Mystery, Murder and Mayhem
by Crazy Packers Fan
Summary: Sequel to Love, War and Games. Silver is accused of murder, Liza turns on Sabrina, Gold's mother is in danger, and Team Rocket plans a comeback.
1. Who Are You

Chapter 1

Who Are You

It was one month after the end of the Pokémon League Tournament. Silver was living in Olivine City, where he visited Jasmine every day. On this particular day, a Monday, Jasmine had called him and asked him to pick up some items for her at the Olivine City Pokémon Mart, as she was busy at the lighthouse. So Silver brought a backpack with him and went to the Pokémon Mart, ready to buy the items she wanted.

"Let's see… she wants Protein, Calcium, Iron, and an Antidote," Silver said to himself on the way to the Pokémon Mart.

He walked into the Pokémon Mart, going to the back wall behind a large container of supplies to look for the items he wanted. He found the Protein, Calcium, and Iron quite easily, but he was having trouble finding the Antidote. He decided to ask the person at the register about the Antidote.

"Where can I find this Antidote product?" he asked.

"They're all on the back wall," the register worker said.

"No, they aren't," Silver said. "I just looked back there, and there were none there."

"Well, that's apparently all we have," the register worker said.

"What?! Isn't the purpose of a Pokémon Mart to be able to have these items available for trainers?" Silver asked.

"Next," the register worker said.

"Hey, I was here first," Silver said.

"Yes, but you're just whining," the register worker said. He then turned to the next person in line. "How can I help you, sir?"

"You're helping me before you get to this next person!" Silver said angrily.

"You know, Full Heals work just as well as Antidotes," the next person in line said.

"What do you know about Pokémon?" Silver asked the person.

"People call me Super Nerd," the guy next to Silver said. "I know all sorts of stuff about Pokémon. And it's much more cost-efficient to buy Full Heals, because they heal more ailments."

Super Nerd then put his items on the counter.

"Hey, those are some Antidotes there!" Silver said. "What do you need five of them for?"

"I don't have the money for Full Heals, and I know exactly what I need," Super Nerd said.

"Can't you just give me one? I'll buy it for you," Silver said.

"Sorry," Super Nerd said, as he paid for his items.

Silver angrily waited for Super Nerd to buy his items, then stepped up to the counter and bought the three items he had.

"What's with your temper?" the register worker asked.

"That's none of your business," Silver said, paying for his items and leaving.

Outside, Silver ran into Super Nerd again.

"So, how about letting me buy one of those Antidotes off you?" Silver asked.

"I've told you, buddy, just get a Full Heal," Super Nerd said. "I got to go back inside and get something else."

"I'm not paying more for no reason at all," Silver said. "I want an Antidote, not a Full Heal."

"Sorry," Super Nerd said, going back inside the Pokémon Mart, leaving Silver fuming outside.

"What a loser," Silver said angrily, setting down his backpack, and putting his newly purchased items inside. Suddenly he remembered that his Sneasel needed to go to the Pokémon Center. As he got up to go to the Pokémon Center, he forgot to bring his backpack with him, and just took his Poké Balls, which were attached to a belt he was wearing. He then ran to the Pokémon Center.

"Oh no, what is this?!" Silver said, seeing a huge line at the Pokémon Center.

"Sorry for the delays everyone, but we're down to one Chansey today," Nurse Joy said.

"That's just great!" Silver complained. He then waited for about 20 minutes inside the Pokémon Center, before finally getting his Sneasel healed. He then walked back to the Pokémon Mart, hoping that he would be able to find an Antidote. He walked over to the Pokémon Mart and saw his backpack sitting outside the building.

"I must have forgotten this," he said, as he was about to pick up the backpack.

"Freeze, Silver!" a female voice yelled.

"Who the heck are you?" Silver said to the young woman.

"I'm Officer Jenny, formerly of Saffron City, before I was reassigned to Olivine City," she said. "I remember you from that whole deal with Silph Company and Team Rocket. I also got a call from the person in charge of this Pokémon Mart that a murder has taken place in the building, and he suspects you of doing it."

"That's impossible!" Silver said.

"Is that your bag?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Yes," Silver said.

Officer Jenny picked up the backpack, finding a bloody knife inside the bag.

"What is this?" Officer Jenny asked.

"That's not mine!" Silver said.

"That's what they all say," Officer Jenny said. "Come with me."

Later that day, Jasmine returned home from the lighthouse and called Silver.

"He's not home," she said. "That's surprising. Maybe he's on his way."

After waiting for about half an hour, she called Silver's house again, but she yet again did not get an answer.

"What could have happened to him?" she said. She walked outside, deciding to go to the Pokémon Mart, figuring Silver might be there. Once she arrived, she found the place blocked off by police. She found some police officers and asked them what was going on.

"There was a murder here earlier today," a police officer said.

"Murder?" Jasmine asked.

"A person was apparently stabbed to death," another police officer said. "We have a suspect under custody."

Jasmine suddenly became completely frightened. "Silver!" she screamed. "Tell me, did the murdered person have red hair?"

"Ironic you mention that…" a police officer said.

The police officers took Jasmine to the police station, where they allowed her to walk back to the jail and see Silver, who was in a jail cell.

"Silver!" Jasmine said in shock.

"I didn't do it, honestly I didn't," Silver said. "I was at the Pokémon Center, and I came back, and a knife was planted in my backpack, which I must have left by accident there. Trust me, Jasmine, I've been framed."

Jasmine looked at Silver for a minute, then started to get a peaceful feeling.

"I trust you," Jasmine said. "I always have, and I always will. I believe you're telling me the truth."

"You've got to talk to these police and get me out of here," Silver said.

"I'll try," Jasmine said.

The shy Jasmine walked over to some of the police officers, feeling worried about what to say to them.

"What is it?" Officer Jenny asked.

"My Silver shouldn't be in jail," Jasmine said.

"Your Silver?" Officer Jenny asked.

"He's my boyfriend, and I know he shouldn't be in prison," Jasmine said.

"So, is he innocent?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Ask him," Jasmine asked.

"We did already. Of course he says he's innocent!" Officer Jenny said.

"There you go," Jasmine said.

"We don't believe him," Officer Jenny said. "Criminals always lie. What do you think, is he innocent?"

"I'm sure he is," Jasmine said.

"How can you be sure?" Officer Jenny asked. "You probably know hardly anything about the incident!"

"Look, I trust Silver," Jasmine said. "I know he wouldn't lie to me, and I know he wouldn't commit a crime like that. You've got to trust me on this."

"Understand something," Officer Jenny said. "We don't just allow criminals to go free. You're going to need some hard evidence to free him."

"How can you incriminate someone without knowing for sure that he did it?" Jasmine asked.

"We have all the information we need," Officer Jenny said. "He has a past criminal record, stealing a Pokémon from Professor Elm, as we found in our records. He was apparently arguing with this person who was murdered, as the worker at the Pokémon Mart said. And he had a bloody knife in his backpack. What else do we need?"

Jasmine burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, girl, but you can forget freeing your boyfriend," Officer Jenny said. "We aren't offering any bail for a murderer."

Jasmine rushed back to her home, still crying, immediately calling up Whitney and Gold. They had come through for her in the past, and now she needed their help more than ever before.


	2. Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 2

Bad Moon Rising

Sabrina was at her home in Saffron City, training Liza in various psychic activities. Liza was a very quick learner, as she began to pick up quickly on everything that Sabrina would teach her. Sabrina was currently teaching Liza how to teleport.

_You already know how to levitate,_ Sabrina said to Liza telepathically. _Focusing your mind is the key to both levitation and teleportation. It must be focused much more in order to teleport correctly._

_You act like it's so easy,_ Liza complained.

_It isn't,_ Sabrina said. _Even I can't teleport everywhere, but only to certain places where I have been before._

Sabrina could hear the phone ringing. She then heard her mother calling for her.

"Sabrina!" Mrs. Saffron called. "It's Will!"

"I'm coming," Sabrina said. Sabrina teleported downstairs to the telephone.

"This is ridiculous," Liza said to herself. "Sabrina knows so much, but she's holding something back, I just know it!"

She felt great anger with Sabrina, ignoring the fact that Sabrina had taught her so much. She wanted to know more, and it was not enough just to have learned so much in such a little amount of time.

_I wonder what Sabrina's doing right now,_ she thought.

Sabrina was downstairs talking on the phone to Will.

"That's great that the Silph Company is back in business," Sabrina said to Will. "It's going to be producing Pokémon-related products, not world-domination plots, right?"

"That's right," Will said. "And I plan on getting a job there."

"Getting a job?" Sabrina said. "But what about helping me run the gym?"

"I can do that too," Will said. "I want to make some extra money. Plus, I'm not going there just to work."

"What are you doing, then?" Sabrina asked, angry that Will was hiding something from her mind.

"I didn't want you to find out, but I'm going there to keep an eye out for suspicious things," Will said. "I want to make sure history doesn't repeat itself and Silph Company doesn't end up taken over by some evil organization again."

"That's nothing to hide from me," Sabrina said. "You stop it with that kind of stuff!"

"You do it all the time," Will said. "I've just learned some things from you, so I can tease you too."

"I should be careful who I teach," Sabrina said playfully.

"So, what do you want to do for dinner tonight?" Will asked.

"I…" Sabrina started to say, before feeling her mind suddenly freeze up on her.

"Well?" Will asked.

"I… can't…" Sabrina said, feeling very weak in her mind, not even able to think correctly.

"There's something wrong," Will said. "I'll be over right away."

Liza sat in her room with her Lunatone, smiling evilly.

_That ought to teach Sabrina a lesson about mind control,_ she thought.

She then turned to her Lunatone.

_Good job, Lunatone,_ she said.

Will came rushing over to the Saffrons' mansion.

"What is it, Will?" Mrs. Saffron asked.

"Your daughter… there's something wrong," Will said.

Mrs. Saffron and Will rushed over to the room where Sabrina had been making the call, finding Sabrina passed out on the floor.

"What happened?" Mrs. Saffron asked.

"Some sort of psychic force attacked her," Will said. "I can tell… it looks like she was trying to hold her head."

"How?" Mrs. Saffron said. "I know Sabrina… she doesn't let other psychics affect her."

"This is the work of a Pokémon," Will said. "Only a Pokémon could attack with this much psychic power."

Will then sensed Liza's presence upstairs.

"Excuse me," Will said, as he rushed up the stairs to Liza's room.

"Who is it?" Liza said in a friendly voice, as she heard knocking on the door.

"You're a psychic, and you know who it is," Will said. "Open this door, Liza!"

Liza opened the door reluctantly.

"What did you do to Sabrina?" Will asked.

"I…" Liza said.

"Go ahead," Will said. "I know you did something, and you're not getting away with it."

"I'm sorry," Liza said. "I was angry at Sabrina for not teaching me how to teleport, so I had my Lunatone attack her with its Psychic attack."

"Sabrina's been nice enough to teach you all you've learned so far, and yet you're so selfish that you want more," Will said. "You owe her an apology, and you don't deserve to learn anything more from her."

"Oh, please, not that," Liza said. "That's all I want."

"You'll be at her mercy," Will said. "Good luck with that."

After giving Sabrina some medicine to heal her, she woke up.

"I'm sorry, Sabrina," Liza said.

"You're a selfish brat," Will said. "How could you do this to Sabrina?"

"Please, Will, let me handle this," Sabrina said. "Liza, I know you want me to teach you more than I have, but you have to understand, becoming a powerful psychic takes a lot of time. Well, unless you're me…"

"You're not mad at me?" Liza said.

"You're like a little sister I never had," Sabrina said. "I'm not going to start hating you over this. Please, just don't do this again."

"I won't, I promise you, I won't," Liza said.

"And I promise that I'll teach you how to teleport," Sabrina said.

Will looked somewhat angry at Sabrina, as he didn't want Liza to get away with what she did. He understood Sabrina's decision, however.

"Now, Liza, Will and I are going to have a meal… alone," Sabrina said.

Sabrina and Will went into a dining room to have a meal that Mrs. Saffron had been preparing. Liza went back upstairs to her room.

"Will's right, I'm selfish," Liza said to her Lunatone, which she let out of its Poké Ball. "Sabrina's got so much to do, too, and she has a boyfriend. I've got to try to train myself… it will take less time for Sabrina that way."

Liza began focusing her mind, trying to teleport. She could not figure out how it could be done, however. As she tried, things around the room started to bend and shake, but she was not teleporting.

"I'm going to learn this or else!" Liza said.

Liza kept trying with all her might to teleport. She ended up lifting up the bed in the room into the air, then dropping it very hard.

"What is Liza doing?" Will said to Sabrina, hearing the loud noise.

"She wants to teleport so badly," Sabrina said. "I feel bad for her… I see a younger version of myself in her."

"Doesn't that worry you?" Will asked, remembering what Sabrina had told him about her childhood.

"I don't think she's going to go overboard like me," Sabrina said.

The two psychics heard a loud crash upstairs.

"Are you sure?" Will said.


	3. Satisfaction

Chapter 3

Satisfaction

Giselle was sitting in her beautiful apartment at Indigo Plateau, looking out the window at the beautiful sights around her. She then got up to look at her trophy case, where her Pokémon League championship trophy and gold medal were.

"2007 Pokémon League champion," she said with happiness.

There was no denying it- this apartment was as luxurious as any in all of Kanto. From the gold-plated faucets in the sink to the elaborate fireplace, Giselle's apartment was incredibly lavish.

"I think it's time to check out the Hall of Fame for a little while," Giselle said. She got up and walked over to the Pokémon League headquarters, which were right nearby her apartment. She then went to the Hall of Fame, which she no longer had to break into; she could now simply use her keys to get inside.

"Wow, look at this… they already have my place set up," she said, looking at the spot that had her picture and information about her and her Pokémon.

"I get to keep my trophy with me until next year's tournament, when I have to put it here," she said. "But I don't have to put my gold medal here."

She then walked out of the Hall of Fame, locking the door behind her, and went over to the Pokémon League headquarters meeting room. Bruno and Karen were at the table, talking to each other, but they stopped talking when they saw Giselle.

"Hello, fellow Elite," Giselle said.

Bruno and Karen gave Giselle an angry look.

"What? I'm an Elite now, just like you, you know," Giselle said. "In fact, I'm the Pokémon League champion!"

"You don't have to go around shoving it in our faces," Karen said.

"Yeah, there's no reason for it," Bruno said.

"What about that quitter Lance?" Giselle asked. "Has he made up his mind about whether he wants to be an Elite, or is he still thinking?"

"He decided to remain an Elite," Bruno said. "That's not to say that he enjoys your presence as a member of the Kanto Elite."

"Well, whether you like it or not, I'm here to stay," Giselle said, sitting down at the table. "And maybe I can fire you if I don't like you."

"There would be huge problems if you started pulling stuff like that," Bruno said. "You would have the possibility of becoming the first Pokémon League champion to be banned from the Pokémon League."

"Let's take a look at the gym leaders around Kanto," Giselle said, ignoring Bruno. "Vermillion City… what's been going on at that gym?"

"Lt. Surge is going back to his gym, and there's nothing we can do about it," Karen said.

"Why? That criminal ought to be behind bars for life," Giselle said.

"He got off," Bruno said.

"The jury found him and Blaine not guilty," Karen said. "Not enough evidence, apparently. They then pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, and got out of jail- just some fines and community service."

"So they're both back at their gyms?" Giselle said.

"That's right," Bruno said.

"Well, I can change that," Giselle said.

"Are you stupid?" Bruno said. "You can't just go around firing gym leaders for no reason at all. Again, you could end up getting yourself banned from the Pokémon League… Charles Goodshow could have you thrown out."

"Yeah, yeah," Giselle said. "So, anything you two want to learn from me?"

"We don't have anything to learn from you!" Karen said.

"There are a lot of lessons I'd like to teach you!" Bruno said.

"Boy, a harsh crowd here today," Giselle said. "I'll see you later… and if you want to learn from the champ, you can visit her in her beautiful apartment!"

Giselle walked away laughing, leaving Karen and Bruno steamed. About a couple minutes later, Lance walked into the room.

"I hate that Giselle," Bruno said.

"Join the club," Lance said. "I wanted to let you two know that Lorelei and I are going to get married on Saturday."

"Why so early?" Karen asked.

"The longer we wait to have the wedding, the more of a chance Giselle will find out about it and show up at it," Lance said.

"You mean you're having your wedding early for the sole purpose of trying to avoid Giselle finding out about its date and showing up at it?" Karen said.

"There are other factors, too, like the fact that Lorelei and I have known each other for so long, and we think this is the right time for it, plus we really want to get married," Lance said. "But that's a major factor- I don't want that arrogant chatterbox ruining our wedding."

"We won't say a word," Bruno said.

"You can count on us," Karen said.

"Good," Lance said.

"Where's Lorelei?" Karen asked.

"She's busy training Water Pokémon with Cerulean gym leader Misty," Lance said. "I'm going to go get something to eat- and I don't want Giselle bothering me while I eat."

"We'll come with you," said Bruno.

"Let's hope Giselle stays away," Karen said.

The three Elite went off to eat, hoping to avoid Giselle. Giselle couldn't care less about what the other Elite were doing, however, as she was taking a nap in her incredibly comfortable bed. Life as Pokémon League champion truly was grand.


	4. More Than A Feeling

Chapter 4

More Than A Feeling

Gold was at his gym at Mahogany Town, ready to fight his next challenger. Since he had taken over the gym, he had not lost a single challenge, and he was confident he would not lose this one as well. He looked over at his opponent, a strange-looking man with long, wavy blonde hair who was wearing sunglasses.

"3-on-3 battle, as it always is here," Gold said. "What's your name?"

"Just call me Firebreather," the man said. He sent out his Magmar. Gold countered by sending out his Typhlosion.

"So, your name's Gold?" Firebreather said.

"That's right," Gold said, as Typhlosion and Magmar fought each other by breathing fire.

"You like it here in Mahogany Town?" Firebreather asked.

"Yeah, actually it's a pretty nice place," Gold said. "It's not that much bigger than where I used to live."

"Oh, where's that?" Firebreather asked.

"New Bark Town," Gold said.

"Interesting," Firebreather said, as Typhlosion began to overpower Magmar. "Too bad about what happened to Pryce."

"Yeah, but my mother and I didn't even know him," Gold said.

"Your mother?" Firebreather said.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her in person since I left home a long time ago," Gold said.

"Very interesting," Firebreather said, calling his Magmar back to its Poké Ball before it fainted. "Well, I clearly can't win this battle. I forfeit."

Firebreather handed Gold ¥10000, then left the gym.

"I sure feel like I've seen that guy before, but I don't know where," Gold said. "That was a whole lot of money he paid me… I only require people to give me ¥2500 if they lose… maybe he was just being suspicious."

Gold called Whitney on his videophone, telling her all that happened.

"Why did you tell him where your home is?" Whitney said.

"Well, I was just being friendly," Gold replied.

"You know Team Rocket was after your mother," Whitney said.

"They're all in jail now," Gold said. "What's to worry about?"

"Not the executives- Lt. Surge and Blaine," Whitney said. "They got off in a court ruling somehow."

"Blaine… that's it! That was Blaine! I remember that Magmar from the tournament!" Gold said.

"And you told him your hometown?" Whitney asked.

"Oh no," Gold said. "I also mentioned my mother."

"Gold, I love you, but you're a little naïve sometimes," Whitney said. "Your mother could be in big trouble."

"We've got to go to New Bark Town right away," Gold said.

"Hurry up and get here," Whitney said. "I'll meet you here."

Gold hung up the phone, just before Jasmine called Whitney.

"Whitney!" Jasmine cried.

"Jasmine! What's the matter? Why are you crying?" Whitney asked.

"It's Silver!" Jasmine said. "He's in jail!"

"What did he do?" Whitney asked.

"He didn't do anything, he was framed- for murder!" Jasmine cried.

"Murder? How?" Whitney asked.

"The police found a bloody knife in his backpack, but Silver says that wasn't his, and I believe him," Jasmine said.

"Gold's in some trouble himself… different trouble," Whitney said. "We think that a Team Rocket member is going after his mother, and we're headed to New Bark Town."

"If I help you, would you two help me?" Jasmine asked.

"Jasmine, we're friends," Whitney said. "I'd help you even if you didn't help me."

"Okay," Jasmine said. "I'll be in Goldenrod City in no time."

"How?" Whitney asked.

"I caught a Skarmory," Jasmine said.

After the phone conversation, Jasmine got on her Skarmory and took off for Goldenrod City, arriving there just as Gold was walking in.

"Hi, Jasmine," Gold said. "What brings you here?"

"I'm going to help you," Jasmine said. "Hop on my Skarmory, you two."

Whitney and Gold jumped on Skarmory, behind Jasmine.

"Let's go to New Bark Town, Skarmory!" Jasmine said.

Skarmory took off, and Jasmine directed Skarmory as they went along. They finally arrived in New Bark Town. Gold immediately jumped off Skarmory and ran to his mother's house.

"Hi, Gold," Gold's mother said.

"Hi, Mom," Gold said. "It's so good to see you."

"You too," Gold's mother said.

"You're in considerable danger here," Gold said. "A Team Rocket member may be coming here to attempt to kill you."

"Team Rocket?" Gold's mother asked.

"You may not understand, but you have to come with us, where you're safe," Gold said.

Gold took his mother outside, introducing her to Whitney and Jasmine.

"This is my girlfriend, Whitney," Gold said. "And this is our friend, Jasmine."

"Hello," Gold's mother said to them.

"Hi," Whitney said, while Jasmine simply nodded.

"Jasmine's shy," Gold said. "Anyway, we have to go somewhere where Team Rocket would not look for you."

"What about Goldenrod City?" Whitney asked. "It's a beautiful city."

"I really want to live near Gold," Gold's mother said.

"Mahogany Town is a nice place," Gold said.

"Isn't it dangerous, though?" Whitney asked. "Team Rocket knows Gold lives there, and you'd be right there, in harm's way."

"Team Rocket only went to my gym, that's all," Gold said. "They wouldn't think to start snooping around. And besides, if they were after me, I'm sure that guy would have sent his Pokémon after me."

"That's right," said Gold's mother. "I'll live with you in Mahogany Town."

The three of them did not realize that Jasmine had snuck over to Professor Elm's laboratory.

"Hello," Professor Elm said. "It's a surprise to see a gym leader like you here."

"Professor," Jasmine said, "do you know Silver?"

"Silver… yes," Professor Elm said. "He stole a Pokémon from me, but later apologized. I forgave him, because I saw how attached the Totodile he stole became to him."

"Does he seem like the type to commit a crime?" Jasmine asked.

Professor Elm stared at Jasmine. "What answer do you want me to give you?" he asked.

"Tell me the truth," Jasmine said.

"Yes," Professor Elm said.

"But didn't you forgive him?" Jasmine asked. "Or are you still holding a grudge against him?"

"Look, I'm not saying he would," Professor Elm said. "But you're asking me to be honest, and I say that history repeats itself. Why do you ask?"

Jasmine gulped. "He's been accused of murder," she said quietly.

"Murder?" Professor Elm said.

"Yes," Jasmine said quietly.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Professor Elm said. "Certainly I would hope he wouldn't do something like that, but… well, I don't know."

Jasmine walked away silently, leaving Professor Elm in confusion.

"This is why I ought to go home from time to time, at least to watch the news," he said to himself.

Jasmine walked outside, meeting her two friends and Gold's mother.

"Could we fly to Mahogany Town?" Gold asked.

"Sure," Jasmine said.

Gold, his mother and Whitney could not help but see Jasmine's eyes begin to water.

"What's the matter?" Gold's mother asked Jasmine.

"My boyfriend's been accused of murder," Jasmine said. "I trust him that he wouldn't do it, though."

"Could we take my mom to Mahogany Town, then Whitney and I come with you to Olivine City?" Gold asked.

"Isn't that dangerous, leaving your mother by herself?" Whitney asked.

"I'll be fine," Gold's mother said. "Don't worry about me, really."

"Okay," Gold said. "Let's go."

The four of them squeezed onto Skarmory, which then took off into the evening sky.


	5. Wishing You Were Here

Chapter 5

Wishing You Were Here

Joe walked into a classroom for his first class of the semester. He had reenrolled at Pokémon Tech, and he was in the advanced class. He had no idea what type of classes to expect, given that he thought the place was difficult when he was a beginner.

The room filled up quickly with other students, all of whom knew each other. The teacher then walked into the room. Joe recognized her immediately.

"Hello, class, I'll be your teacher for Advanced Pokémon Battling Techniques," the teacher said. "My name is Roxanne."

Many of the male students were mesmerized by Roxanne's looks. Even Joe couldn't resist thinking that she was attractive.

"I come from Hoenn's Rustboro City," Roxanne said. "I graduated with honors from Rustboro City's Pokémon training school, and then I became a teacher there. I became such an esteemed teacher that Pokémon Tech hired me to teach advanced classes here."

"We're glad you're here," a student said.

"Oh, but I'm sure you won't be saying that later," Roxanne said. "I'll let you know that I only plan on passing about half of you, maybe less."

The students looked at each other in confusion.

"And if any of you disagree with me, well, let's just say you're taking this class for no reason," Roxanne said.

"Isn't this a required class for graduation?" a student said.

"That's right," Roxanne said.

"You can't do this! It's not fair!" another student said.

"You may leave now, then," Roxanne said, "because I won't be passing you."

The students sat in silence.

"Ah, it looks like one of our students has been to the Pokémon League before," Roxanne said, noticing Joe. "Why, may I ask, are you here?"

"I want to become a better trainer," Joe said.

"Don't we all?" Roxanne said. "This boy here lost to me in the Pokémon League tournament, and he apparently wants to improve his skills. Well, I'll tell you this: there's no one else better to learn it from."

After the first class, some of the students were complaining about the homework Roxanne had given them.

"Figuring out the exact HP a level-52 Pidgeot will inflict on a level-58 Mankey with its Wing Attack?" a student said. "That's ridiculous."

"This teacher's crazy," another student said.

Joe was upset as well. Roxanne had spent half the class pointing out Joe's mistakes in his battle against her, embarrassing him. He decided to go to the dean's office to complain. After talking to a secretary, he was able to talk to the dean of Pokémon Tech.

"What is the problem?" the dean asked Joe.

"It's a teacher," Joe said. "Her name is Roxanne."

"You're kidding, right?" the dean said. "Roxanne is one of the best teachers in the Pokémon world. You must be a poor student. Do you just want an easy A?"

"No, sir, but-" Joe said.

"Please, Roxanne will not be fired or punished in any way," the dean said. "You may go now."

Joe walked out angrily. The first thing he wanted to do was talk to Giselle, but on his way to his dorm room, he ended up bumping into Roxanne.

"I'm sorry," Joe said.

"You'd better be," Roxanne said. "I'll tell you this right now: you're going to have an incredibly difficult time passing my class."

"Why is that?" Joe asked.

"You already proved to me you stink at Pokémon training, as you caught some really poor Pokémon and tried battling with them," Roxanne said. "You're not going to ever be a Pokémon Master, and I doubt you could ever make it past the third round of the tournament."

"What does that have to do with the class?" Joe asked.

"Do you think I'll allow a poor Pokémon trainer to pass an advanced class?" Roxanne asked.

"No, but-" Joe said.

"There's your answer," Roxanne said, walking away.

Joe was furious. He went to his dorm room and called up Giselle immediately.

"Giselle! Giselle!" Joe called into his videophone.

"Ahhh," Giselle said, waking up from her nap. "Oh, Joe. Hi. How was your first class?"

"Awful!" Joe said. "I have a terrible teacher who says I'm going to have an incredibly difficult time passing her class… you beat her in the Pokémon League tournament. Her name is Roxanne!"

"Roxanne!" Giselle said. "Pokémon Tech must be going downhill if they hired someone like that!"

"I'd challenge her to a battle, but I know I'd lose," Joe said. "She embarrassed me in class by talking all about my tournament loss to her."

"I wish I could give her a piece of my mind," Giselle said angrily.

"Same here," Joe said.

"You know, Joe, I am the Pokémon League champ," Giselle said. "I'll call Pokémon Tech and see what I can do about this. You just give me all the information about this, and I'll file a complaint with the dean over the phone."

Joe gave Giselle all the information about the situation.

"Thank you, Joe," Giselle said. "You know I'm on your side."

"I know," Joe said. "I'll talk to you later."

"You too," Giselle said, before hanging up.

Joe sighed. He had such bad luck. A very important class of his had a teacher that did not like him. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for Pokémon Tech, after all…


	6. Don't Dream It's Over

Chapter 6

Don't Dream It's Over

The next morning, Will arrived at Silph Company for the first day of his new job. He was very skilled with computers, so he had applied for and gotten a job working on computer programs for the company. When it was his coffee break, he decided to explore the computer to see what was on it. When he did, he discovered that things that Team Rocket had been working on had not been deleted.

_What's this?_ he thought.

He started looking at some information about the "Anti-Silph Scope."

_This instrument, when used on a person, has the ability to turn a person into a ghost,_ he read. _It allows a person to become completely invisible, pass through walls, and be invulnerable to any sort of physical attack. A person can still pick up things, and must be able to, as he or she must still eat and drink to survive. Only with a Silph Scope can the result of an Anti-Silph Scope be reversed._

Will paused after reading this. _Why would anyone want to turn himself into a ghost?_ he thought. _This must have been something innocent they were developing._

He then read the next item.

_Blaster Bomb: an extremely dangerous device used for causing severe explosions. This advice is handheld, and must be thrown a long distance in order to avoid blowing up one's self. A lock prevents the bomb from being accidentally activated._

Will looked at this item in utter shock. _This could have been what Team Rocket was planning on using to blow up some cities… or maybe this is what Giovanni used when he got blown up himself!_

Will then went back to work, but not without worry. If Team Rocket's materials were still on his computer, they could be on any other of the computers in the building. And that meant that someone could easily go on a computer and figure out how to create the devices that Team Rocket was manufacturing.

That evening, Will went over to Sabrina's house. As he stepped up to the door, Liza appeared next to him.

"Liza?!" he said in shock.

"Yes, I can teleport now!" Liza said happily.

"See, Sabrina isn't all that bad," Will said.

_I'm not all that bad?_ Sabrina said telepathically to Will, appearing on his other side.

_Sorry, Sabrina, you know what I meant,_ Will said.

_You're lucky I do,_ Sabrina said. _Now what have you come to tell me?_

_I found Team Rocket's plans on my computer,_ Will said. _They were making a couple of devices, the Anti-Silph Scope and the Blaster Bomb._

_And you think that Giovanni used the Blaster Bomb when he was trying to blow us up?_ Sabrina asked.

_That's right,_ Will said.

_What's this Anti-Silph Scope?_ Liza asked.

_It turns a person into a ghost,_ Will said. _It makes them invulnerable to any attack. I don't know why they were making it, it sounds like some failed experiment to me._

Mrs. Saffron opened the door. "Come on in," she said. "I've prepared a meal for you."

The three walked inside to go eat.

"You will teach me how to teleport, too?" Will asked Sabrina.

"If you want," Sabrina said.

The three of them ate, but not without Will worrying about Team Rocket.

_I know you're nervous,_ Sabrina said. _Why are you worrying about Team Rocket?_

_If their information is still on these computers, then workers could go on them and create the items that Team Rocket was working on,_ Will said.

_But why would anyone want to do that?_ Liza said.

_Remember that Lt. Surge and Blaine were let out of prison,_ Sabrina said. _Will has a point; if they get that information, they could use it to recreate the objects of destruction Team Rocket was manufacturing before. They could also pay someone at Silph Company to give them that information or to produce something for them._

_I'm going to take charge and make sure all of their information is deleted off all the computers in the place,_ Will said. _I'll ask the new boss of Silph Company if I can do this, because it is of extreme importance._

_Somehow I feel responsible for this,_ Sabrina said.

_Don't keep on beating yourself up over the past,_ Will said. _Everyone forgives you. It's over with._

Sabrina and Will both sat there, nervous for slightly different reasons. Will was worried that Team Rocket could make a comeback; Sabrina was nervous that she would be responsible for a possible Team Rocket comeback.


	7. Give Me A Reason

Chapter 7

Give Me A Reason

Skarmory flew the three trainers and Gold's mother to Mahogany Town. Once there, Gold showed his mother to his house.

"This is really small," Gold said, "but it's just like our house. You should go downstairs."

Gold's mother went downstairs, sitting down on a couch.

"I can sleep here on this couch," Gold's mother told him.

"I'll buy you a bed, once I'm finished taking care of this," Gold said.

"It's really okay," Gold's mother said.

"I have the money, though," Gold said.

"Okay, you just take care," Gold's mother said. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Mom," Gold said.

After Gold and his mother hugged and his mother gave him a kiss, Gold left with the two girls to fly to Olivine City.

"Now let's go get Silver out of this," Gold said.

Skarmory took off, taking the three to Olivine City. When they arrived there, they found news crews filming reports on the murder of Super Nerd.

"Olivine City trainer Silver is being charged with first-degree murder," a reporter said.

"Hey, hold on," Gold said.

"Who are you?" the reporter said.

"I'm Silver's… friend, I guess," Gold said reluctantly.

"What do you have to say about your friend?" the reporter asked.

"He's a rough guy, but I can't see him committing a crime like this," Gold said. "Haven't you taken into consideration that he could have been framed?"

"I'm just a reporter, giving the facts," the reporter said.

"Talking to these reporters isn't going to help," Whitney said. "We have to go visit the police."

Gold, Whitney and Jasmine went to the police station, finding Officer Jenny standing near a bunch of other police officers.

"It's you again," Officer Jenny said to Jasmine. "What are you here for now?"

"We want to know why you've put Silver in jail," Whitney said.

"Maybe because he was caught with a bloody knife in his backpack," Officer Jenny said.

"Isn't he innocent until proven guilty?" Gold asked.

"Technically, but do you want a murderer free to walk the streets?" Officer Jenny asked.

"No, but that's what's going on right now," Whitney said.

"What is with you people?" Officer Jenny asked. "You may have helped me stop Team Rocket, but you don't know anything about law. You can't just say someone's not guilty because you think they aren't; you need evidence."

"Stop Team Rocket?" Gold asked.

"I was reassigned from Saffron City to here," Officer Jenny said.

"Seems like Team Rocket is on the loose again," Whitney said. "Lt. Surge and Blaine both are free after getting off in that court case."

Officer Jenny looked angrily at Whitney. "Again, you don't know anything about law. There was not enough evidence to convict them. They didn't get off; they were rightfully freed."

"Do you have the knife?" Gold asked.

"The knife has been examined," Officer Jenny said. "We could find no fingerprints on it. Your friend Silver must have been wearing gloves."

Jasmine started to sob quietly. Whitney became angrier at Officer Jenny. "What is the reason you want to incriminate Jasmine's boyfriend?" Whitney asked. "There has to be some reason. Are you being paid?"

"That's not it, and now you're just sounding foolish," Officer Jenny said. "Now go away, because you're not making any headway."

"We want a trial for Silver," Whitney said.

"Silver will go on trial for the murder of Super Nerd one week from today," Officer Jenny said. "That will be his only chance at freedom."

The three left the police station, with Jasmine in tears, and the other two angry.

"I don't believe it," Gold said. "Silver may be my rival, but he's also my friend. I can't imagine him committing this crime."

"Neither can I," said Whitney. "We've got to find some sort of evidence that proves his innocence."

"I'm pretty tired," Gold said. "It's getting late, too. Can we go somewhere to rest?"

"You can come to my house… there are places for you to sleep there," Jasmine said.

Gold and Whitney followed Jasmine to her house. As Jasmine was preparing to show Gold a place to sleep, Whitney turned on the television.

"Silver will stand trial next week for the murder of Super Nerd," a reporter was saying.

"Thank you for that report," the news anchor said. "And now, we have breaking news in from Mahogany Town."

"Mahogany Town? Gold, look at this!" Whitney said.

"Apparently Mahogany Town has come under attack," the news anchor said. "Look at these images from Mahogany Town, as bombs began to blast all around Mahogany Town just minutes ago."

Gold, Whitney and Jasmine looked at the screen in utter shock as they saw Mahogany Town on fire, with buildings destroyed and smoke rising in the air.

"There's my gym!" Gold said. "It was bombed!"

"Gold…" Whitney said. "Look at the right of the picture."

Gold looked at the screen in horror, seeing his house completely destroyed.

"I sure hope my mom is all right," he said.

"We have spotted a hot air balloon in the shape of a Meowth floating high above Mahogany Town," the news anchor said.

"Unbelievable," Whitney said.

"We will give you more information when we are able to get it, but right now, the images speak for themselves," the news anchor said.

The three trainers were in utter shock. None of them even knew what to do. Should they go to Mahogany Town and find out if Gold's mother was okay, or would that be too risky?

"I've got to go to Mahogany Town," Gold said.

"You're going to get killed!" Whitney said. "That Team Rocket member found out you lived there, and he decided to bomb the place from the hot air balloon! They could still be there, from all we know!"

Gold stared at the ground in silence. "You were right, Whitney," he said. "My mother should have gone to Goldenrod City, not Mahogany Town."

Jasmine looked thoughtful. "My Skarmory can fly high enough that we could get onto that hot air balloon, if it's still there, and we could take out whoever's on it."

"We have to do that!" Gold said. "Let's go now!"

"Out of the fire and into the frying pan," Whitney said, as the three trainers went outside to get on Jasmine's Skarmory.


	8. Gimme Shelter

Chapter 8

Gimme Shelter

Sabrina went rushing to the door, hearing the doorbell ringing over and over again.

"James?" she said.

"Yes, it's Jessie, Meowth and I," James said. "Have you seen the television report?"

"No, I haven't," Sabrina said.

"You need to see it," Jessie said.

Sabrina allowed the three inside her house, then turned on the television, seeing the news at Mahogany Town.

"That's your balloon," Sabrina said.

"But we weren't in it, obviously," James said. "It belonged to Team Rocket, and someone from Team Rocket must have found it where we hid it."

"Cinnabar Island," Sabrina said.

"Right," Jessie said.

"Don't worry, I know you had nothing to do with this," Sabrina said. "That was Blaine who got on that balloon and did these things."

"But we don't know how he got the Blaster Bombs," James said. "The only place he could have figured out how to make them would have been-"

"Silph Company," Sabrina said.

"That's right," Meowth said.

"There is apparently someone who e-mailed Blaine that information from Silph Company," Sabrina said. "Will is going to have to figure out who that is."

"We need to stay here," James said.

"Because you're afraid that people are going to start accusing you of doing this," Sabrina said.

"Boy, she's good," Meowth said.

"Don't worry, I'll tell my parents you're staying here," Sabrina said. "There are several open rooms you can stay in."

Sabrina showed the three former Team Rocket members to their rooms, then told her parents about them. She saw that Liza was sleeping, as it was around 10:00 pm. She decided to call Will, who was also sleeping.

"Will, Blaine got the information about the Blaster Bombs," Sabrina said on the videophone to him.

"How do you know?" Will asked.

"Mahogany Town was bombed by someone in a Meowth hot air balloon, and it wasn't Jessie, James and Meowth," Sabrina said.

"How do you- oh, that's right," Will said.

"It wasn't my psychic ability this time; they're at my house," Sabrina said. "Anyway, we've got to do something about this."

"Should we go there?" Will asked.

"That's my job," Sabrina said. "You have to go to work tomorrow and question everyone- and I mean everyone. Someone there e-mailed Blaine the Blaster Bombs information, and you have to find out who it was."

"You sure you're going to be fine?" Will asked.

"Of course," Sabrina said. "Now get some sleep."

Sabrina hung up, then teleported to Mahogany Town. She walked around the terrible destruction, seeing the destroyed gym. She also saw Gold's destroyed house, which was completely ruined. Even the basement of the house, where Gold's mother had been, was burnt to a crisp. Sabrina sensed something, which she felt must be a sign that someone had been killed in the explosion at this spot.

"How terrible," she said sadly.

She then saw something flying through the air. It was Skarmory, with Gold, Jasmine and Whitney on the back of it. They flew right into the Meowth head of the hot air balloon, forcing it to come crashing to the ground. Sabrina rushed over to the destroyed hot air balloon, but she found no one there. Suddenly she found herself being thrown to the ground by an unseen force, and she felt herself begin to be choked. She teleported away an instant later.

"Good job," Jasmine said to Skarmory, as Skarmory brought the three trainers to the ground.

"Let's see who was in this balloon," Gold said.

Gold found no one in the balloon, however.

"What?!" Gold said.

"Gold, look at this," Whitney said.

Gold rushed over to where Whitney was standing. He looked at where his house had been. Now there was just rubble. It was destroyed all the way down to the basement.

"My mother's been killed," he said sadly. He then began to cry. Whitney and Jasmine began to cry as well, and Whitney hugged Gold.

"I'm so sorry," Whitney said.

"It's my fault," Gold said angrily. "It's my fault!"

Gold then felt himself shoved to the ground by an invisible force.

"Gold! Are you okay?" Whitney asked.

"I don't know what hit me!" Gold said. "Ouch! Ow!"

Gold was now being punched by an invisible force.

"We've got to get him out of here," Jasmine said. "Quick, Skarmory, pick him up!"

Skarmory rushed over to Gold, picking him up with its wings.

"Now get us too!" Jasmine called to Skarmory.

Skarmory scooped up Jasmine and Whitney, then flew the three trainers away. Jasmine directed Skarmory back to Olivine City. There the trainers went back to Jasmine's house. They were all totally stunned and saddened by the day's events. Silver was in jail. Gold's town was destroyed. Gold's mother was killed. And some sort of invisible force attacked Gold. What was going on?


	9. Land Of Confusion

Chapter 9

Land Of Confusion

The next morning, the trainers woke up to find Silver's Haunter in Jasmine's living room.

"Haunter? What are you doing here?" Jasmine said.

"Haunter!" Haunter said.

"Silver must have released Haunter to come to visit me," Jasmine said.

Haunter went over to Gold and began to sniff him.

"Haunter! Haunter!" Gold said.

"What is it, Haunter?" Jasmine asked.

"It seems like Haunter smells something on Gold," Whitney said.

"Wait a minute," said Gold. "Remember when I suddenly got thrown to the ground by an invisible force? That must have been some type of ghost, and now Haunter is smelling it."

"Maybe that ghost was in charge of that hot-air balloon," Whitney said.

"But what type of ghost Pokémon would do that?" Gold asked. "Why would a ghost just start throwing bombs like that?"

"I don't know," Whitney said. "There are a lot of questions that we have yet to be answered."

Meanwhile, back at Saffron City, Will was busy questioning many of his fellow workers, none of which knew anything about Team Rocket's information. Will became frustrated and went to his boss.

"Do you know anything about the information that Team Rocket had stored on these computers?" Will asked.

"No, I don't," the boss said.

"Are you sure no one else besides us workers has been in this building?" Will asked.

"Besides the police when they made sure the building was safe to work in- it's been just you workers," the boss said.

"Okay," Will said. "I would know if people are lying, and they aren't, and neither are you. I don't understand it."

Will went back home to see Sabrina that afternoon, telling her about this information.

"And they were all telling the truth?" Sabrina asked.

"Yes, as far as I could tell," Will said.

"Something's not right," Sabrina said. "I also think that the Anti-Silph Scope you mentioned may have been used."

"Why is that?" Will asked.

"Last night, I was thrown to the ground by an invisible force while exploring the disaster at Mahogany Town," Sabrina said. "I should have fought it, but I decided just to teleport away."

"You think someone used that Anti-Silph Scope to turn himself into a ghost?" Will asked.

"Yes, and I think it was Blaine of Cinnabar Island," Sabrina said.

"How could we catch Blaine?" Will asked.

"That's the thing I'm still trying to figure out," Sabrina said.

At Indigo Plateau, the Elite met together to try to figure out what to do about the Mahogany Town situation.

"What do you think we should do to help?" Giselle asked the other Elite.

"I don't know, why don't you figure it out, Miss Expert?" asked Lance.

"Come on, Lance, a town got basically wiped off the map of Johto," Lorelei said. "This is no time for arguing."

The others gave no response to Giselle.

"I guess it's up to me, then," she said. "I think that we need to catch whoever is responsible for this and bring them to justice. After all, we are powerful enough to stop them."

"Stop who?" Bruno asked.

"Whoever caused this," Giselle said.

"Exactly my point," Bruno said. "We have no idea. We can't go into battle if we don't even know our opponent."

"Does anyone know who bombed Mahogany Town?" Giselle asked.

"No," Karen said. "Even the people who inspected the explosions found no one there… there's no way of knowing who did it."

"Maybe we should just go there and explore ourselves," Giselle said.

"You go ahead and do that," Lance said. "We're not risking our lives."

"Some Elite you are," Giselle said. "Isn't the job of the Elite to keep the Pokémon League under control?"

"The job of the Elite has nothing to do with putting ourselves in harm's way," Lance said.

"I think it's better that we don't go out there just yet," Lorelei said. "I think some facts will come out eventually if we wait a little while."

"Okay…" Giselle said.

After the Elite meeting, Giselle went back to her room, finding a video message from Joe.

"Roxanne gave the class a pop quiz, and the entire class failed," Joe said. "I got the worst score in the class, so she decided to make fun of me in front of the whole class."

"That's it!" Giselle said, after watching the message. She called up Pokémon Tech from her apartment.

"How can I help you?" a secretary said.

"This is Giselle," Giselle said.

"Giselle! Our star student who has brought fame to Pokémon Tech by winning the Pokémon League championship!" the secretary said.

"That's right," Giselle said, giggling. "Now please, put me on the phone with the dean of Pokémon Tech."

"Right away," the secretary said.

The dean came on the video screen.

"Giselle! It's so good to see you," the dean said.

"I have something to talk to you about," Giselle said.

"What is it?" the dean asked.

"It's about a teacher at your school, who I have heard reports of her bringing down the quality of the teaching at Pokémon Tech," Giselle said. "Her name is Roxanne."

"Roxanne?" the dean said. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm not," Giselle said. "My boyfriend Joe-"

"He was here yesterday," the dean said.

"That's right," Giselle said. "And he's been publicly humiliated by Roxanne, and she's also been promising to fail at least half the class."

"I don't believe it," the dean said.

"Well, it's true," Giselle said.

"No, I mean, I really don't believe it," the dean said. "Roxanne is a very high quality teacher, and she would never do things like this. If this is a joke, it's not a very funny one, Giselle. I'm sorry, but Roxanne is not being fired or punished."

"What?!" Giselle said. "How dare you not listen to the Pokémon League champion!"

"What rights does that title give you?" the dean said. "Not the rights to tell Pokémon Tech what to do. I'm sorry, Giselle, but I have something to do. Good-bye."

The dean hung up on a furious Giselle.

"Joe wouldn't lie to me," Giselle said. "There's something wrong with this school. It's gone downhill fast. What can I do to help Joe?"


	10. Ghostbusters

Chapter 10

Ghostbusters

Gold, Whitney and Jasmine had decided to fly back to Mahogany Town on Skarmory. They had Haunter with them the whole way. When they landed, Haunter started getting really excited about something.

"What is it, Haunter?" Jasmine asked.

"Haunter! Haunter!" Haunter said.

Haunter licked the air.

"That was sort of pointless," Gold said.

Suddenly, Sabrina appeared, as she had decided to teleport back to Mahogany Town. Her eyes turned blue as she began to focus her psychic energy. Within a few minutes, a person began to materialize in front of Haunter, right where Haunter licked.

"Who is it?" Gold asked.

The trainers then saw a paralyzed Blaine standing right in front of them.

"How? How is it possible to make me appear again?" he said.

"Psychic power is stronger than your Anti-Silph Scope, which is the device you used to turn yourself into a ghost," Sabrina said. "That's why I was able to make you come back to normal."

"You were the one who bombed this place," Whitney said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Team Rocket is alive and well," Blaine said. "Sabrina, you should never have left us."

"You're going to jail this time," Sabrina said. "Now tell me, why are you three here?"

"My mother was staying right here at the time of the explosions," Gold said. "I lived here as well, but I wasn't here when the bombings went off."

Sabrina paused. "I am sorry to say, but I can sense that someone was killed here," she said.

"It's okay," Gold said, although his eyes began to get watery.

"Look what you did!" Whitney said to Blaine, kicking him.

"Hey, that saved me some trouble," Blaine said. "I was planning on bombing New Bark Town afterward."

Whitney kicked Blaine even harder.

"Please, let's allow the law to punish him," Sabrina said. "Where did you three come from?"

"Olivine City," said Jasmine.

"Let's take him back there," Sabrina said. "He's paralyzed, so he won't escape. You fly him back, and I'll teleport there."

Sabrina teleported to Olivine City. The trainers brought Blaine into Olivine City after about a 15-minute flight.

"Let's take him to the police station," Whitney said.

The trainers took the paralyzed Blaine with them to the police station. Officer Jenny looked shocked when she saw Blaine.

"This is the man responsible for the bombings at Mahogany Town," Whitney said.

"How can you be sure?" Officer Jenny asked.

"He turned himself into a ghost somehow, and since no one could be seen flying the hot air balloon that dropped the bombs, it had to have been him," Whitney said.

"Turned himself into a ghost? You think I'm going to believe that?" Officer Jenny said.

"I'm a psychic, and I have a way of finding the truth in situations like this," Sabrina said. "What Whitney said was correct."

"Well, we'll see how the courts handle it," Officer Jenny said. "That will be ¥10000 in bail."

"Why does he get bail?" Jasmine asked. "Silver didn't get bail, but this guy does, and he bombed a whole city!"

"Sorry, but that's the way it goes here in Olivine City," Officer Jenny said. "It would be higher bail in Saffron City, where I used to work, but it's only that much here."

The paralysis wore off Blaine, who pulled ¥10000 out of his pocket.

"You've got a trial in five days," Officer Jenny said. "It will be the day before Silver's trial."

Sabrina teleported away, back to Saffron City, while the other trainers walked out unhappily. The three friends went back to Jasmine's house.

"How could Blaine possibly get away with this?" Whitney said angrily.

"I don't understand," Jasmine said.

"This isn't fair!" Gold said.

"And to top it off, Silver's still in jail," Jasmine said.

"I wish we could find some sort of evidence that proves Silver's innocence," Whitney said.

"Same here," Gold said.

Jasmine turned on the television, seeing a report on Silver's murder.

"Why do they have to keep on rehashing this story?" Jasmine said.

"I don't remember having anyone else come into the store that day," a person was saying on the screen.

"Wait a minute, did you hear that?" Whitney said.

"So you figure it must have been Silver?" a reporter on the screen said.

"Yes," the person responded, who was the worker at the register at the Pokémon Mart.

"And that bloody knife pretty much confirms it," the reporter said.

"That's right," the worker said.

"No one else was there but Silver," Jasmine said. She turned her eyes downcast, beginning to cry. "We'll never be able to prove that he didn't do it."

"No!" Whitney said. "You stop thinking that way. I have a feeling Blaine has something to do with this."

"Blaine couldn't have committed it," Gold said. "He was battling me at the time."

"But what evidence proves that someone else besides Silver did it?" Jasmine said. "I know it wasn't Silver…"

"We'll figure it out, eventually," Whitney said. "Relax."

The frustrating events of the past two days had completely confused the three trainers, who went to sleep that night wondering if things would ever get better for them.


	11. Unwell

Chapter 11

Unwell

The next morning, Joe went to his class with Roxanne, who came into the classroom angry.

"I've had it with the disrespect I've been getting from you students," she said. "Any more of that, and you'll automatically fail."

She then went on to lecture about Pokémon battling, but she mainly just bragged about how great she was at battling.

"We get it already," a student whispered.

"You may leave," Roxanne said to the student, as she heard what the student said. "You get an F."

The student looked puzzled, but Roxanne was serious. "Get out!" she yelled.

The student quietly picked up his book and backpack and left the room.

"Anyone else want to fail?" Roxanne asked.

The room was silent.

"That's what I thought," Roxanne said. She then continued her lecture.

After the class, Joe went back to his dorm room, completely frustrated. He needed to pass this class in order to graduate, but it was looking less and less likely, with all the problems Roxanne was giving him. He called Giselle again.

"Yes?" Giselle asked.

"It's terrible," Joe said. "Roxanne failed someone today just for whispering something. She's out of control."

"I wish I could go beat her in a battle," Giselle said. "That would teach her a lesson."

"I don't understand why anyone would act like this," Joe said.

"I tried my best to talk to the dean, but he refuses to listen to me," Giselle said. "I don't know what to do."

"I'll just try my best, and see what happens," Joe said.

That afternoon, Will went to Sabrina's house after work. He had no luck getting any more information about Team Rocket's plans or if anyone had knowledge of them.

"My boss said yesterday that only the police had been in the building before us workers," Will said to Sabrina. "And I questioned everyone yesterday. They all said they had no knowledge of Team Rocket's plans, and they were all telling the truth. Today I tried looking all through my computer for more of Team Rocket's plans, but I found none."

"You said only the police were there," Sabrina said.

"That's right," Will said.

"I'm starting to figure out some of this puzzle," Sabrina said. "But I don't know enough yet."

During the evening, Officer Jenny came to give Silver his food.

"I'm feeling really ill," Silver said. "Could I see a doctor or something?"

"You're a prisoner," Officer Jenny said. "You don't have any rights!"

Silver then saw Lt. Surge walk over to Officer Jenny.

"Are we going to eat out tonight?" Lt. Surge asked.

"Please don't bother me right now," Officer Jenny said, "but yes."

Lt. Surge then walked away.

"Got a boyfriend?" Silver said.

"Shut up," a blushing Officer Jenny said. "I don't care how you feel, I know you're just trying to get out of jail."

"No, I'm really not," Silver said. "I'm telling you the truth again. I didn't commit that murder, and I really feel sick."

"Or maybe you're lying twice," Officer Jenny said. "So long."

Officer Jenny left without even giving Silver his food, leaving Silver in his jail cell, hungry and sick.

"This isn't fair," Silver said, taking out his Eevee from its Poké Ball. "Eevee, you've got to let Jasmine know I'm sick, but I don't know how you can do that… just try."

Eevee then escaped through the bars of the jail cell, running through the police station, and finally making it to the door, sneaking out as Officer Jenny and Lt. Surge were walking out.

"Whose Eevee is that?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Who cares?" Lt. Surge said. "It's an helpless creature, and it won't cause any harm."

Eevee found its way to Jasmine's house, as it was familiar with Jasmine's house from going there many times with Silver. It began scratching at the door, causing Jasmine to open the door to see what was making that noise.

"Eevee!" Jasmine said, picking up Eevee in her arms. "It's so good to see you."

"That's Silver's Eevee, right?" Gold said.

"Yes," Jasmine said. "Silver must have let him out to come see me."

Eevee then began pretending to be in pain.

"Eevee, what's the matter? Are you hurt?" Jasmine asked.

Eevee then jumped out of Jasmine's hands and pointed towards the door, then started pretending to be hurt again.

"Wait a minute… is Silver ill?" Jasmine asked.

Eevee nodded its head.

"Oh no, my Silver's sick, and he's stuck in jail," Jasmine said.

"We've got to go tell the police that he's sick," Gold said.

"Who knows how helpful they'll be, though," Whitney said.

The three trainers brought Eevee with them to the police station. Whitney spoke up to some of the police officers that were there.

"Excuse me, but could we visit a prisoner?" she asked.

"Which one?" a police officer asked.

"Silver," Whitney said. "He's ill, and we need to help him."

"I guess, though we'll be watching you closely," another police officer said.

A police officer showed the three trainers to Silver.

"Silver!" Jasmine said. "Are you okay?"

"No," Silver said. "I'm really ill."

"We've got to get him to see a doctor," Jasmine said. "Officer, is there a doctor that could check on Silver?"

"I suppose we can get our town's Nurse Joy to check on him," the police officer said.

"Hey, why are you being so cooperative to us now, when you weren't before?" Whitney said to the police officer.

"That was Officer Jenny," the police officer said. "I don't know what it is, but she's come over here from Saffron City and been awfully bossy towards us."

"That reminds me," Silver said. "Officer Jenny is apparently going out with Lt. Surge."

"The Lt. Surge that was part of Team Rocket?" Whitney said.

"Yeah, him," Silver said.

"Maybe that can explain the way she's been toward us," Gold said.

"Now could you go get Nurse Joy?" Jasmine said.

"Yes," the police officer said, going to find Nurse Joy.

"Jasmine, come close to the bars," Silver said.

"Yes," Jasmine said, coming closer to Silver.

"I want you to know something: I love you too much to ever jeopardize our future by committing a crime like that," Silver said. "You can trust me that I didn't commit that murder."

"I trust you, Silver," Jasmine said. "You're innocent; the truth will come out."

"It will come out," Silver said. "And eventually everyone will see."

"I'll do anything to get you out of this," Jasmine said.

"I'd kiss you, but I don't want to make you sick," Silver said.

About a half hour later, Nurse Joy came with a police officer. She performed a checkup on Silver, not finding any serious illness with him besides a fever.

"You're going to have to feed this guy better," Nurse Joy said. "You don't want him to become sicker."

"We're fine with that," the police officer said. "Only Officer Jenny has been giving us problems with doing that."

"I haven't gotten to eat tonight," Silver said.

"We'll get you some food right away," the police officer said.

After about an hour of Silver's friends talking with him while he ate, they were told to leave, which they did.

"Poor Silver, being stuck here," Jasmine said. "I know he's innocent."

"I think Officer Jenny is trying to frame him," Whitney said. "She's going out with Lt. Surge, a former Team Rocket member."

"And remember that Blaine is also a Team Rocket member," Gold said. "If we could only figure out who killed Super Nerd."

That problem weighed heavily on the three friends' minds as they went to sleep that night, with Silver's trial lurking closer and closer.


	12. Roxanne

Chapter 12

Roxanne

Joe went to his class with Roxanne the next day, sitting through another harsh lecture from her, as she insulted most of the people in the class. After the class was over, the students hurried out of the room. Joe was last to leave, although in his rush to get out of the room, he ended up tripping once reaching the hallway. That was when he could hear sobbing coming from some girl… and not just any girl, but Roxanne.

"Why does he treat me this way?" Roxanne said between sobs. "What have I done to him?"

Joe first thought Roxanne was talking about someone in the class, but then he realized that she probably was mentioning someone else. He thought about continuing on his way- after all, Roxanne wasn't the type who seemed to need any help- but his good nature won over, and he went to talk to her.

"What's the matter?" Joe said.

Roxanne first ignored Joe, continuing to cry. But after seeing that Joe wasn't leaving, she decided to talk to him.

"It's a guy named Hiker," she said. "He's my boyfriend, and he's also a teacher. He treats me horribly, though. He's always insulting me… it's so difficult to take."

"Why not just break up with him?" Joe said.

"I can't," Roxanne said. "I've invested so much time into this relationship… I just can't."

"You don't deserve this sort of treatment," Joe said.

Roxanne looked at Joe, stopping her crying for a moment. "You really mean that?" she asked.

"No girl deserves it," Joe said.

"I'm sorry," Roxanne said. "I've come to class after hearing Hiker criticize me and belittle me every morning, and I've taken it out on you. I was never like this before- well, maybe I was a little arrogant- but I never treated any of my classes like this. I'm so sorry, Joe."

"It's okay," Joe said. "You can't allow yourself to take all this from him, though… you have to break up with him."

"For you to care enough to try to help someone who's treated you the way I have… I'll listen to you," Roxanne said. "I'll also make it up to everyone in the class."

Joe walked out of the classroom in shock. Roxanne was a real person, just like him; she had only been acting like this because of her troubled relationship with Hiker. He went to his dorm room to talk to Giselle.

"You mean that girl was going through relationship problems, and took it out on her class?" Giselle said.

"That's right," Joe said. "I felt really bad for her."

"Well, you shouldn't have," Giselle said. "There's no reason to feel bad for people who treat you like dirt."

"Yes there is," Joe said. "You never know why someone acts the way they do until you hear their side of the story."

"You're too thoughtful, Joe," Giselle said. "But I guess that's why I like you so much."

That afternoon, Will came back from work to see Sabrina. He immediately could sense something was wrong when he came to the door.

_What's the matter?_ he asked Sabrina telepathically.

_It's Liza,_ Sabrina said. _She's gotten so focused on her psychic training, that she's started to act really strange._

Will and Sabrina went upstairs to see Liza, and they found her just staring at the wall. Liza sensed that they were watching her, and she lifted them up into the air psychically. Sabrina immediately released herself from Liza's psychic hold, then used her power to release Will, who was not as psychically strong as either female psychic.

_Liza, what's going on?_ Sabrina asked.

A doll then floated up from next to Liza and began to speak to Sabrina and Will.

_Isn't it fun to play?_ it said.

"That's my doll!" Sabrina said out loud, in shock.

"Isn't this what you told me happened to you?" Will said. "You split personalities with your doll because you became so focused on your psychic training?"

"Yes, but I didn't think Liza was this focused," Sabrina said. "Liza, speak to us!"

_Liza doesn't want to talk. Liza wants to play!_ the doll said, as Sabrina and Will were thrown into a wall.

"Enough is enough, Liza!" Sabrina said. "You're out of control!"

"Why did you get her this focused on psychic training?" Will asked angrily.

"I didn't know she'd become like this!" Sabrina said. "Come on, Liza!"

_Maybe you didn't hear me,_ the doll said, picking Sabrina and Will up psychically. Sabrina then fought back, letting herself to the ground while throwing the doll at a wall.

_This isn't funny,_ Sabrina said to Liza. _I'm not letting what happened to me happen to you._

Liza gave no response, still staring at the wall.

"What can you do to break her out of this?" Will said, coming back to the ground.

"I don't know," Sabrina said. "It took laughter for me to break out of it, but I don't know if that's going to work this time."

Sabrina took her Haunter out of its Poké Ball.

"Go make faces at Liza," Sabrina said.

Haunter began making all sorts of silly faces at Liza. Liza then used her psychic powers to send Haunter flying across the room.

"Liza!" Sabrina said.

"Obviously that's not working," Will said.

"Maybe I should attack her with my psychic powers," Sabrina said. "I could easily overpower her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Will said.

Sabrina paused. "I guess it's not," she said. "What can we do to help her?"

Liza then picked up the bed in the room psychically, and she was about to throw it at Sabrina and Will, but they left the room in time before they were hit by the flying bed. They then went downstairs, trying to think of a way to snap Liza out of her trance.

The next day, Joe went to his class with Roxanne. All the other students in the class came in as well, dreading what Roxanne was going to do in today's class.

"Joe!" Roxanne snapped. "Come on up here!"

Joe gulped. Maybe Roxanne was still going out with Hiker, and thus still struggling.

"I want everyone in this class to see what a compassionate person looks like," Roxanne said. "This boy cared to talk to me even when I was being awful towards him, and I want to thank him for that. Thank you, Joe."

"You're welcome, Roxanne," Joe said.

"Now I'm going to run this class the way it's supposed to be run," Roxanne said. "I'm very sorry for all the trouble I've caused you. We're starting this class over today, and trust me, I won't fail any of you for pointless reasons."

The class breathed a sigh of relief as Roxanne began to teach the class- the right way. After class, Roxanne called Joe aside.

"I can't thank you enough for your advice," she said. "I broke up with Hiker last night."

"That's good," Joe said.

"I'm going back to Hoenn this weekend, but I'll see you on Monday," Roxanne said.

"Have a nice trip," Joe said.

"By the way," Roxanne said, "you were passing the class even while I was still with Hiker. You're a good student."

"Thanks," Joe said. He went back to his dorm room and told Giselle the good news. Giselle was not so pleased.

"It sounds like you like this Roxanne," Giselle said.

"No, really, I don't," Joe said. "You're my girlfriend."

"Roxanne looks similar to me… I can see you falling in love with her," Giselle said.

"Trust me, Giselle, I'm not in love with Roxanne," Joe said.

"Yeah, sure you aren't," Giselle said. "I knew this would happen if you went away to Pokémon Tech."

"Can't you have some faith in me?" Joe asked.

"All right, all right," Giselle said. "I'll trust you. But you better not fall in love with this Roxanne!"

"I won't, Giselle," Joe said, before he hung up.

Joe felt satisfied. He was doing well in his class, apparently, and he had helped Roxanne out. He knew Giselle was jealous that he even talked to another girl, but he was not about to cheat on her. He was happy that his compassionate personality had paid off for him- and for Roxanne.


	13. I Ran

Chapter 13

I Ran

That afternoon, Silver had his Sneasel begin slashing around in his jail cell, trying to dig a hole. He also had his Kadabra teleport outside, as he told Kadabra to visit Jasmine as well. He even had Golbat fly out of the jail cell, and the police chased the Pokémon outside. Both Kadabra and Golbat went to Jasmine's house.

"Kadabra? Golbat?" Jasmine said. "These are two more of Silver's Pokémon."

"Why is Silver just letting his Pokémon run free?" Whitney said.

"Maybe he wants them to get the type of care Jasmine's been giving to Eevee and Haunter," Gold said.

"His Pokémon are brilliantly trained, as they know the exact location of my house from being here so many times," Jasmine said. "I'll do anything to help him out, and that includes taking care of his Pokémon."

Silver, meanwhile, continued planning his escape. He knew that the police very rarely came near his jail cell, so he figured it would be fine to have Sneasel continue digging its hole. Once the hole became pretty large, Silver realized that it was going to be very difficult to attempt to crawl out.

"I'm glad I kept you with me, Totodile," Silver said. "Go ahead and Surf."

Totodile flooded the hole with water. The water started to build up, and the pressure ended up bursting a hole through the wall of the jail cell.

"Let's go!" Silver said.

He and his Pokémon crawled out of the hole of the jail cell, then began to run. A few police officers were outside, and they saw Silver running with his Pokémon.

"Isn't that the guy who was arrested for murder?" one asked.

"It sure looks like him," another one said.

"Let's get him," the third officer said.

The police officers chased after Silver, but Totodile noticed them and blasted its Surf attack at them. The police officers were stopped dead in their tracks by the wave of water.

"Nice job, Totodile," Silver said.

Silver then made it to Jasmine's house, and he began knocking on the door frantically.

"Great, is that the police knocking on the door?" Gold said.

"I don't know…" Jasmine said.

"Jasmine! Open up!" Silver said.

"Is that you, Silver?" Jasmine said, rushing to open the door.

"Yes, it's me," Silver said, as Jasmine opened the door.

Jasmine immediately kissed him, then hurried him and his Pokémon inside. She locked the door behind her.

"You've got all this dirt on you," Jasmine said. "You've got to get it cleaned off."

"I will, I will," Silver said.

"Are you feeling okay?" Jasmine asked.

"Amazingly enough, I woke up feeling a lot stronger and better," Silver said.

"It would be a good idea to have a place to hide Silver," Whitney said.

"I can't hide for the rest of my life," Silver said. "I'm willing to fight the police if they come looking for me."

"I have a suggestion for you, Silver: follow Whitney's advice," Gold said in a somber voice.

"Why, just because she's your girlfriend?" Silver asked.

Gold looked upset. "No," he said. "We didn't have time to tell you, but my mother was killed in a bombing, and she wouldn't have been had she and I listened to Whitney's advice for her to hide in Goldenrod City."

"I'm sorry, Gold," Silver said.

"We were trying to help her, but it turned out disastrously," Whitney said.

"Go downstairs to the basement," Jasmine said. "I'll bring you a change of clothes."

The police officers who saw Silver escaping, meanwhile, went back to the police station, reporting to Officer Jenny what had happened.

"He escaped?!" Officer Jenny screamed. "Why didn't you catch him?"

"Do you see how wet we are?" a police officer said. "We were blasted away by his Water Pokémon."

"That's no excuse," Officer Jenny said. "You should have caught him!"

Officer Jenny then led the police officers on a city-wide search for Silver. News reporters picked up on the police search.

"Look at this," Whitney said, pointing at the television.

"The Olivine City police are searching for Silver, who has apparently escaped from his prison cell," a reporter said. "Three police officers say they saw Silver running outside with two of his Pokémon."

"Great, they're going to be searching for Silver, and they'll probably come here," Gold said.

"In other news, trainers are angry at Jasmine for not taking challenges at her gym lately-"

"That's enough!" Jasmine said, shutting off the television. "I'm too busy trying to help Silver."

"Is he doing all right downstairs?" Whitney said.

"He doesn't like hiding, but he's got a change of clothes on, and he seems to be healthier," Jasmine said.

About 15 minutes later, the three trainers heard pounding on their door.

"Open up!" the voice said. "It's the police!"

"Don't open it!" Whitney said.

"What else can I do?" Jasmine said, opening the door to reveal Officer Jenny.

"Well, if it isn't that murderer's friends," Officer Jenny said. "I know he's here, so you might as well just reveal him before I arrest you, too."

"How can you do that?" Whitney said, stepping up to Officer Jenny. "You have no evidence that we are hiding him- and isn't evidence what matters to you?"

"You have a motive to be hiding him," Officer Jenny said. "Now where is he?"

"He's not here," Gold said. "You might as well look somewhere else."

"Don't lie to me, boy," Officer Jenny said.

Officer Jenny pushed her way past Jasmine and started walking further into the house. Whitney then sent out her Clefairy.

"Clefairy, use Metronome!" Whitney said.

"What are you doing that for?" Gold asked.

An Ice Beam came flying from Clefairy's finger, hitting Officer Jenny and freezing her upon impact.

"Now look what you did!" Gold said. "We'll get arrested for attacking a police officer!"

"Excuse me, Gold, but this is someone who's been helping Team Rocket members," Whitney said. "We're against Team Rocket, aren't we?"

"Stop arguing," Jasmine said. "Look!"

The ice began to melt, and eventually, Officer Jenny was freed from the block of ice.

"Now you're all under arrest!" she said. She went to grab Gold, but Clefairy ran over and began slapping her like crazy.

"Get this stupid thing away from me!" she said. She then sent out her Growlithe.

"Oh, could we please have this Pokémon battle somewhere else, not in my living room?" Jasmine pleaded.

Just then, Silver appeared at the top of the stairs to the basement.

"You looking for someone?" he asked Officer Jenny.

"Yes, you," she said.

"You know, I've been treated very unfairly," he said.

"Who cares? You're a murderer," Officer Jenny said.

"I'm no murderer, but your boyfriend is!" Silver said. "He has helped Team Rocket commit murders, and you know it!"

"No, I don't know that," Officer Jenny said. "There's no evidence to support your argument."

"Everyone knows it!" Silver argued.

"It could have just been Giovanni… we don't have direct evidence to convict Surge," Officer Jenny said. "Now you're going back to jail!"

"You know, this is very interesting, this whole thing with you and Lt. Surge… I ought to tell it to the Goldenrod City tabloids," Whitney said. "Imagine what they'd do with a story about a police officer and a Team Rocket member…"

"All right, all right!" Officer Jenny said. "I'll let you have bail, as I guess you should have gotten it… that will be ¥100000."

"¥100000? No way!" Silver said.

"Then come to jail," Officer Jenny said.

"Come on, Silver, this is no time to be cheap," Jasmine said.

"Oh, all right," Silver said, pulling out the money and paying Officer Jenny.

"Remember, your trial is just days away- and don't try running away, because then you'll be convicted for sure," Officer Jenny said.

Officer Jenny then left Jasmine's house.

"It's good to have you back," Jasmine said.

"Yeah, but it will only be for a short amount of time if we can't find the evidence to prove that the knife did not belong to me," Silver said.

"Don't worry, we'll figure out a way," said Whitney.

Whitney was worried, though- she had no idea how to prove Silver's innocence, and neither did any of the others. Somehow, though, they hoped the truth would come out.


	14. Torn

Chapter 14

Torn

Late that night, in the Lilycove City jail in Hoenn, the cells of Archie, Maxie, and Shelly were opened, with a note in each cell: "Re-form Team Rocket." They also found changes of clothes in all three cells. The three escaped the prison without anyone noticing, as no one had ever escaped from the Lilycove prison before. The three of them agreed that to rejoin Team Rocket, because whoever set them free obviously knew all about them and wanted them as Team Rocket members.

"We need to find Tabitha," Maxie said. "He went off with that girl, but I'm sure we can get him to join us again."

The next day, the three Team Rocket members went to the Lilycove City Department Store in an attempt to blend into the crowd. They then saw Winona, Wallace, Flannery and Tabitha shopping.

"I had a feeling that he'd be here," Maxie said.

Maxie walked up to Tabitha and pulled him aside.

"What happened to you?" Tabitha asked.

"I was in jail, you idiot!" Maxie said. "Look, we need you to rejoin us, as Team Rocket."

"I thought we were Team Magma," Tabitha said.

"We were, but not anymore," Maxie said. "If you don't join us, we'll blacklist you and that girl too."

"Can't I take her with me?" Tabitha asked.

"Not if you want us to succeed," Maxie said.

"Oh… all right," Tabitha said.

Tabitha walked back over to Flannery.

"Flannery, I've got to take care of some business… it's a job I've taken," Tabitha said. "I'll be gone for a little while… I don't know how long yet, but I'll return."

"Okay," the naïve Flannery said.

Tabitha had inner conflict about whether to stay with Flannery or to go with Team Rocket, and whether to do good or evil. In the end, though, his fear for Flannery's safety won out, and he chose not to upset Maxie, whom he knew would attempt to exact revenge.

"What was that?" Winona asked Flannery.

"Tabitha just left… he said he had some sort of job to do," Flannery said.

"Interesting," Wallace said. "This is the guy who was with one of those evil teams, right?"

"Right," Flannery said.

"I saw on the news today that three former Team Rocket members escaped from the Lilycove jail last night," Wallace said.

Flannery gasped. "He's gone evil again!" she said. She then ran through the crowd, trying to find Tabitha, but it was of no use. Team Rocket had left Lilycove City altogether, as they attempted to find a way to Kanto and find a way to realize what was going on with Team Rocket on the whole.

"Flannery!" Winona said, catching up to her.

"He's gone," Flannery said, beginning to cry.

"You could never have trusted a guy from an evil organization," said Wallace.

"That guy was shady," Winona said. "I'm sure you'll find someone who truly loves you."

"I thought he did…" Flannery said, crying.

Meanwhile, Sabrina was feeling strange feelings about the news report on the escape of three former Team Rocket members at Lilycove City. The fact that no one knew how they were released was something that her mind couldn't stop thinking about. She had the feeling that there was another Team Rocket member using the Anti-Silph Scope Will had told her about, but she couldn't figure out who it could be.

Liza was still acting very strange, too. She only wanted to "play" by throwing around Jessie, James and Meowth psychically, which Sabrina put to an end by having her Mr. Mime put a Barrier around Liza's room to prevent her from escaping and wreaking havoc. The Barrier was teleport-proof.

Will came over to Sabrina's house that day, a Saturday, knowing that Sabrina's mind was troubled.

"I know you're worried about two things: that Team Rocket escape in Hoenn and Liza," Will said.

"That's correct," Sabrina said. "I don't know what to do about these things. I didn't think Liza would get herself into the same sort of trance I did, and I don't know how to find and stop a ghost."

"Have you ever heard of Shirona?" Will asked.

"Yes," Sabrina said. "A psychic who lives far away."

"We need to ask her," Will said. "She's very powerful, maybe the most powerful psychic. If we combine our psychic powers, we could come up with some sort of cure for Liza, and maybe a way to catch ghosts."

Sabrina bristled at the thought that there was a more powerful psychic than herself. "I don't think we need her help," Sabrina said.

"A little jealous, aren't you?" Will said.

"Jealous? Of what?" Sabrina asked angrily.

"Of her power," Will said.

"I'm more powerful than her!" Sabrina said. "I'll prove it to you!"

"First, you must teleport to the land of Sinnoh and get to come here," Will said.

"You really need to learn how to teleport," Sabrina said. "It's not that hard."

"Is that what you told Liza to get her into a trance?" Will asked, a bit upset.

Sabrina ignored Will's response. Focusing her mind on the far-off land of Sinnoh, her eyes turned blue. Then, in a flash, she disappeared.

"I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen," Will sighed.


	15. My Shirona

Chapter 15

My Shirona

Sabrina appeared in a room by herself. She looked around, seeing unfamiliar surroundings. _Did I somehow teleport to the wrong place?_ she thought.

_No, you didn't,_ Sabrina heard a voice say. She then saw Shirona teleport into the room.

_You have come here from Saffron City, because you want my help,_ Shirona said telepathically.

_That is correct,_ Sabrina said.

_You also think you're a more powerful psychic than me,_ Shirona said.

_I don't just think that; that's the truth,_ Sabrina said.

_You're mistaken,_ Shirona said. _There is no more powerful psychic than me._

_Are you going to help me or not?_ Sabrina said angrily.

_Considering you need my help, that pretty much proves my point,_ Shirona said.

Sabrina pulled out a Poké Ball in anger. _You really don't want to battle me, do you?_ she asked Shirona.

_One on one battle,_ Shirona said.

_Fine,_ Sabrina said. _Go, Mewtwo._

_Go, Milotic,_ Shirona said.

_You're a psychic and you won't even use a Psychic Pokémon?_ Sabrina said. _Shameful._

_It's a real shame if you lose to someone with a Mewtwo, as you're about to,_ Shirona said. _Hydro Pump, Milotic!_

_Psychic, Mewtwo,_ Sabrina said.

Milotic's Hydro Pump hit Mewtwo hard, while Mewtwo still managed to throw Milotic into a wall with its Psychic attack.

_Recover, Milotic,_ Shirona said.

Shirona's Milotic started to flash, and it suddenly was back at full health.

_Blizzard, Mewtwo,_ Sabrina said.

Mewtwo shot ice towards Milotic, but it had little effect.

_Hydro Pump again,_ Shirona said.

Mewtwo was hit by another Hydro Pump. It then came back with another Psychic attack, throwing Milotic into a wall again.

_Recover again,_ Shirona said.

As Milotic recovered its health again, Sabrina realized Mewtwo was getting nowhere in the battle against Shirona's repetitive strategy. She tried something different.

_Hydro Pump,_ Shirona said.

_Stop that water with your Psychic attack!_ Sabrina said.

Mewtwo held back the water blast coming towards it.

_Now release it, while using Psychic on Milotic!_ Sabrina said.

Mewtwo released the water while grabbing Milotic. Milotic felt the full blow of the water blast while getting thrown hard into the wall.

_Recover,_ Shirona said.

Milotic was too stunned to move at the moment, including to use its Recover move, giving Mewtwo another opportunity.

_Psychic again,_ Sabrina said.

Mewtwo grabbed Milotic psychically, throwing it up into the air, having it hit the ceiling, before it crashed to the ground, unconscious.

_You win,_ Shirona said, calling back her Milotic. _Apparently you are something else._

_Thank you,_ Sabrina said, calling back her Mewtwo.

_Now I will come with you to Saffron City to help you,_ Shirona said. _What you need help with requires more than one psychic._

Sabrina and Shirona both focused their minds on Saffron City, then teleported into the living room of Sabrina's house.

_Shirona,_ Will said, seeing the woman next to Sabrina.

_You're Will, Sabrina's boyfriend,_ Shirona said.

Sabrina blushed. _You could say that,_ she said.

_A friend of ours, Liza, has had her personality removed from her,_ Will said. _We need your help._

_I know that,_ Shirona said. _Who do you think I am?_

Sabrina led the other two up the stairs to Liza's room, seeing Liza standing there with her Lunatone.

_You don't want to play, so you're going to fight,_ Liza said.

_Focus your mind on Liza's body, and I'll focus mine on the doll,_ Shirona said. _We can bring them back together. Will, you use one of your Pokémon to fight that Lunatone while we do this._

_Okay,_ Will said.

Will sent out his Xatu. _Use Psychic to stop that Lunatone,_ he said.

Liza's Lunatone was also using Psychic against Will's Xatu. At the same time, Sabrina and Shirona were focusing their minds on Liza and her doll, trying to get her personality restored to her. After much struggle, Liza's personality returned.

"What happened?" Liza said.

"It's so good to see you're all right," Sabrina said, hugging Liza.

"You got too into psychic training, and you lost your mind," Will said. "You can't do that anymore."

"I'm sorry," Liza said.

"I think that we should take a break from this training," Sabrina said. "We need your help."

"There are ghosts somewhere in the Pokémon world causing trouble," Will said. "They're not Ghost Pokémon, they're actual people who turned themselves into ghosts."

"There may only be one ghost," Shirona said. "One ghost can cause a lot of havoc."

"How can we find them?" Liza asked.

"We must all focus our minds together on sensing ghosts," Shirona said. "If we do, one of us may be able to sense a ghost's presence."

The psychics all focused their minds together, trying to channel a ghostly presence. Sabrina then started to feel something.

"There's a ghost in Olivine City," Sabrina said. "I feel some sort of presence there."

"I can feel it too," Shirona said. "It must be stopped."

"Let's teleport there now," Sabrina said.

"I'm sorry," Shirona said, "but I have to go back to Sinnoh… I have some battling to do there."

"The three of us can go, then," Sabrina said.

"Wait a minute, I can't teleport," Will said.

"Come on, Will, just focus," Sabrina said. "It's not much different from trying to channel a spirit... I know you can do it."

"I'll see you some other time," Shirona said. "So long."

"Good-bye, and thank you," Sabrina said.

Shirona teleported away. In the meantime, Will began to focus his mind on Olivine City. He started to feel some sort of power. He struggled with his mind, with his face turning red as he tried to focus. Finally, he disappeared from Sabrina and Liza's sight.

"Is he in Olivine City?" Liza asked.

"Yes," Sabrina said. "I'm so happy for him. Let's go meet him."

Sabrina and Liza then teleported to Olivine City to meet up with Will, who was thrilled over the first teleportation of his life.


	16. White Wedding

Chapter 16

White Wedding

Sakura and Casey came to Indigo Plateau, as they had been invited to Lance and Lorelei's wedding by Lorelei. The wedding was in the evening, so they decided to visit Giselle first, as they had become friends with her during the Pokémon League tournament.

"Hey, Giselle!" Sakura said, seeing Giselle relaxing in a lounge in the Pokémon League headquarters.

"How are you two?" Giselle said.

"We're fine," Casey said. "Sakura's been training at her home of Ecruteak City, while I've been trying to catch baseball games of the Electabuzz."

"That sounds interesting," Giselle said. "What brings you here to Indigo Plateau? Have you come to learn from the champion?"

"I'm sure there's a lot you could teach us," Sakura said. "But we're really here for the wedding."

"What wedding?" Giselle asked.

"You know, Lance and Lorelei's wedding," Sakura said. "Don't tell me you forgot about it."

"Forgot? I never knew about it!" Giselle said angrily. "I've been left out before by those other Elite trainers, but they've gone too far this time!"

"Well, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you showed up," Casey said.

"No, they would," Giselle said. "I can't stand being left out like this."

That evening, Lance and Lorelei's wedding took place. Agatha returned for the wedding, and many of the friends of both trainers were present. Giselle herself was not there, much to Lance's pleasure. He came down the aisle first, before Lorelei.

Lorelei came walking down the aisle in her white dress, looking more beautiful as ever to Lance. She met him at the altar, and the two said their vows. Then came the kiss- a kiss of a lifetime between Lance and Lorelei, as they knew that they were finally married.

Later in the evening, the cake was brought out for the guests to eat.

"You got a very large cake," Lorelei said to Lance.

"Well, I didn't know how big it should be…" Lance said.

All of a sudden, pieces of the cake started flying at guests. Within seconds, the cake was torn apart enough for Lance to see Giselle's Cubone inside it, throwing cake at everyone in sight.

"I hate that Giselle!" he screamed.

Giselle poked her head out from a corner and snickered. She believed in sweet revenge- and this was exactly what she wanted.

In the meantime, Archie, Shelly, Maxie and Tabitha had taken a ship to Vermillion City. There they met up with Lt. Surge, who had returned from Olivine City after spending some time with Officer Jenny.

"Lt. Surge," Archie said. "We were freed from jail and told to restart Team Rocket. Was it you who did that?"

"No," Lt. Surge. "But I will tell you that Team Rocket is back in business. Our operations are being done in ultimate stealth. I'll tell you what I need you four to do for me."

Lt. Surge sent the four Team Rocket members to Fuchsia City, where they were to go to the gym.

"What a waste of time this is!" Maxie said. "I don't feel like battling a gym leader!"

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," Archie said.

"Yes it is!" Maxie said.

"You know, the last time you two argued, we ended up almost getting killed, and a lot of our friends did get killed," Shelly said. "Let's just obey Surge's orders and take our payment when we return."

The four Team Rocket members walked into the Fuchsia City gym, where they saw Janine practicing martial arts.

"That's the girl we're looking for," Tabitha said.

Tabitha tried walking up to Janine, but he walked straight into an invisible wall. Janine noticed the four Team Rocket members and walked through a certain pathway to meet them.

"Have you come to challenge me?" she asked.

"Absolutely not!" Maxie said.

"Good," Janine said. "I've been struggling lately anyway. Ever since the death of my father…"

"Hey, that's what we wanted to talk to you about," Archie said.

Archie and the others began a discussion with Janine. Janine seemed to agree with what they were saying.

"Okay," Janine said, at the end of their conversation. "This is exactly what I want most… and I'm going to get it."

"We'll even pay you," Shelly said, as the four Team Rocket members left.

_Yes,_ Janine thought. _All I want is revenge, and if this is my way of getting it, it will all be worth it._


	17. Don't Stop Believing

Chapter 17

Don't Stop Believing

Sabrina, Will and Liza walked around in Olivine City, trying to find the ghost that Sabrina had sensed. In reality only Sabrina knew what was going on, as she was the only one who could sense the ghost's presence; the other two were just hoping to help her in some way.

Sabrina felt some sort of a presence coming from a certain house. She knocked on the front door of the house.

Jasmine opened the door. "Yes?" she said.

"May we come in?" Sabrina asked.

"You're that girl who was in Mahogany Town," Jasmine said. "Sure, but what for?"

Sabrina did not respond, walking around the house slowly. She looked at Silver, who was sitting on a couch watching television. Silver looked over at her with annoyance.

"Jasmine, why just allow anyone into your house?" Silver asked.

"I trust these people," Jasmine said.

"Don't worry about us," Will said. "We're just trying to find a ghost."

"Another one?" Gold said.

"Yes," Sabrina said. "But for whatever reason, I can't sense the ghost anymore, although I did when I came in. Thank you for letting us in."

"You're welcome," Jasmine said, as the three psychics walked out.

Silver rushed over and closed the door behind the psychics, locking it.

"We can't just have anyone come in," Silver said. "What if it's someone trying to accuse me?"

"You've already been accused," said Whitney. "It's not going to make anything worse. What if they find some evidence that proves your innocence?"

"Well, in that case, I guess it's okay," Silver said.

Sabrina, Will and Liza teleported back to Saffron City, returning to their houses to go to sleep. The next afternoon, a Sunday, they met in the dining room of Sabrina's house.

"There was something mysterious about that house," Sabrina said. "I could really sense some sort of presence there, but it seemed to just go away all of a sudden."

"And you think it was a person that knows you," Will said, sensing Sabrina's thoughts.

"Yes," Sabrina said. "I think it is a Team Rocket member who I obviously worked with for some time."

"You don't think we should go back there?" Will asked.

"I think the ghost will make itself known eventually," Sabrina said.

"If there even is a ghost," Liza said.

"Trust me, there is a ghost causing problems," Sabrina said. "I know it might seem improbable, but it's the truth."

Roxanne had returned to her home of Rustboro City for the weekend. When she walked to her gym, she noticed Dewford Town gym leader Brawly standing outside.

"Hi, Roxanne," he said.

"Hi… what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just was interested in how things have been going for you over at Pokémon Tech," Brawly said.

Roxanne sighed. "Not too good," she said. "Before my breakup with Hiker, I treated my class horribly and unprofessionally. I still feel terrible about it, even though I've stopped acting like that."

"I always thought that Hiker treated you terribly," Brawly said.

"He did," Roxanne said, sitting down on the steps outside her gym.

"You deserve better," Brawly said.

"I don't know about that," Roxanne said sadly.

"You're a good girl inside," Brawly said. "I've known you long enough to know that's the truth."

"Sit down," Roxanne said to Brawly, who then sat down next to her.

"You've always liked me, haven't you?" she asked.

"Well, I-" Brawly said, blushing.

"A fighter like you should be more open with his emotions," Roxanne said. "Now tell me, am I right?"

"Yes," Brawly said, embarrassed.

"And you'd just love for this to happen," Roxanne said, grabbing his hand.

"You're beautiful, Roxanne," Brawly said.

"You come take my class at Pokémon Tech," Roxanne said. "And don't worry, you'll be the teacher's pet."

She hugged Brawly, then went inside her gym to check out how things had been going while she was gone. Brawly still sat there, stunned.

"If I had only known she liked me too," he said, "I could have saved her from that miserable experience with Hiker."

At Indigo Plateau, Giselle was called to the meeting room to meet with the other Elite. She could tell from one look at their faces that they were angry- angrier than usual.

"What is it this time?" she asked.

"We are voting to impeach you as an Elite member," Lance said.

"You can't do that," Giselle laughed.

"Actually, we can," Bruno said. "We already have permission from Charles Goodshow after your despicable idea to crash Lance and Lorelei's wedding."

"That type of childish behavior is not what Elite members do," Karen said. "You'd never see us pulling pranks on each other, especially in a mean-spirited way."

"Well, I'm sorry," Giselle said. "And besides, why wasn't I invited?"

"It was a mistake," Lorelei said. "I didn't realize Lance had failed to invite you."

"I didn't invite her for this reason!" Lance said.

"Actually, I only reacted the way I did because of my failure to be invited," Giselle said.

"Who cares?" Lance said. "It's still not the type of behavior that Elite members take part in. Now if all four of us vote for your removal from the Elite, Goodshow can fire you, if he so pleases, and he wants to do so anyway."

"This isn't fair!" Giselle said, stomping out of the room angrily.

"You know, I think you're overreacting about this," Lorelei said. "She was angry over not being invited, so she pulled a prank. I didn't like it, but is it worth eliminating someone from our ranks?"

"I think so," Bruno said.

"Giselle is an excellent trainer, and I think that should come first and foremost," Lorelei said. "She will remain as an Elite member, whether you like it or not, as I refuse to vote for her resignation."

Karen and Bruno seethed at Lorelei's refusal to vote to get rid of Giselle, but Lance remained silent. Lorelei was right- whether he wanted to admit it or not. He left the room without saying anything.

Giselle sat in her apartment, about to call Joe, when she heard knocking on the door. "Who is it?" she said angrily.

"It's Lance," a voice outside the door said.

"Go away," Giselle said, walking over to the door.

"Don't worry, we haven't voted against you," Lance said from the other side of the door. "I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize?" Giselle said.

"Yes, I'm sorry for not inviting you to the wedding," Lance said. "That was very unprofessional of me."

"Well, I'm sorry too, for what I did," Giselle said. "I'd hate to have my future wedding with Joe ruined like that."

"It's okay," Lance said. "If Lorelei wasn't too upset about it, then I guess I shouldn't be, either. I think we Elite need to get along better, and that includes the rest of us accepting you."

Giselle opened the door. "You sound very professional now," she said. "All is forgiven… I just ask for you to not treat me as an outsider anymore."

"I'll do what I can to make you feel like you're one of us," Lance said. "Because you are."

Giselle returned to the meeting room with Lance, where Lance talked Bruno and Karen into accepting Giselle. Lorelei smiled at Lance. She knew that she had married the right man.


	18. We Wait And We Wonder

Chapter 18

We Wait And We Wonder

It was now Monday, the day of Blaine's trial. Trials in Kanto and Johto often lasted only one day, as did Lt. Surge and Blaine's trial in Saffron City a few weeks before. They had gotten off with little punishment for their deeds with Team Rocket thanks to a supposed lack of evidence.

Jasmine, Whitney and Gold were all at the trial as witnesses. They all testified against Blaine. It was clear to nearly everyone in the room that Blaine had been the one who dropped the bombs on Mahogany Town. It became even clearer when Sabrina appeared in the room, teleporting there from Saffron City. She told the jury about what she had seen when she was at the scene. Sabrina was very trusted by everyone, as they knew she was psychic. Blaine found himself completely nervous by the end of Sabrina's testimony, as there was clear evidence to convict him on the crimes.

The jury walked out to decide on Blaine's innocence or guilt. It did not take them long at all, as they were back within a half hour. Blaine looked depressed in his seat as the verdict was read: "Guilty."

Sabrina teleported away, seeing Blaine give her a dirty look just before she went back to Saffron City. Jasmine, Whitney and Gold went back to Jasmine's house, where Silver was waiting for them.

"I got a call while you guys were out," Silver said.

"Who was it for?" Gold said.

"You," Silver said. "Apparently someone's looking for you."

"You know what, I don't want to hear it," Gold said. "That Blaine guy was looking for me, and boy, he got what he wanted, didn't he?"

"Okay…" Silver said. "I wrote down the number just in case you want to call her back."

"Her?" Gold said.

"Her?!" Whitney said. "Who's this girl? Is she another one you flirted with? I should have known you were a flirt, Gold!"

"Oh, it gets better," Silver said. "She loves you, Gold."

Whitney turned bright red, furious at Gold. She was about to punch him, but Gold rushed over to the phone, calling the number Silver had written down.

"Silver, I hope this isn't a joke," Jasmine said. "This isn't a good time for jokes, anyway- you know what tomorrow is."

"Don't worry, it's no joke," Silver said.

"Hello?" Gold said.

"Oh, it's so good to hear your voice, Gold," the voice said. "I haven't seen you since last Tuesday."

"Mom!" Gold said. "Is that really you? I thought you were killed in the bombing!"

"No, remember the Sandshrew you caught?" she said. "It dug a hole under your house, and it heard something, getting scared, so it jumped into the hole. I followed it deep underground, and we were safe down there during the bombing. The next day, we walked to a hotel in Goldenrod City. I'm sorry I couldn't call you… it took me so long to find Jasmine's number."

"I'm just so happy you're alive!" Gold said. "I knew that Sandshrew would come in handy."

"I should tell you- when those blasts went off, it grew a bunch of quills on its back and claws on its paws," Gold's mother said. "I think it evolved."

"It became a Sandslash," Gold said. "Do you want us to come meet you?"

"No, stay where you are," Gold's mother said. "I saw a television here at my hotel at Goldenrod City, and it says Silver is on trial tomorrow in Olivine City for murder, and I know that's one of your friends."

"Yes, and we know he didn't do it," Gold said. "We just can't figure out how to prove it."

"You come visit me the day after," Gold's mother said.

"We will," Gold said.

Gold hung up, with Whitney embracing him warmly as he did.

"I'm so happy for you," Whitney said. "And you know I trust you."

"That's such good news," Jasmine said.

"See? I wasn't joking," Silver said. "But it was fun to make Gold and Whitney a little uneasy."

"Thanks, Silver," Gold said. "I'm glad you didn't hang up on her."

"Hey, I had nothing else to do," Silver said.

"We're going to prove your innocence," Gold said.

Silver sighed. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do," he said. "I'll tell you exactly what happened, though."

"Please tell us," Jasmine said.

"I was trying to purchase some items for you, Jasmine," Silver said. "They were out of Antidote, but the guy who got killed had some Antidotes. He wouldn't give up what he had, so I became angry."

Jasmine, Whitney and Gold looked at each other nervously.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill him," Silver said. "After I left the Pokémon Mart, I went over to the Pokémon Center. I must have left my backpack behind, because when I came back, there it was. That's when Officer Jenny accused me of committing the crime, and she found that knife in my backpack. If I had only kept my backpack with me, this may not have happened."

"And he was killed while you were gone," Jasmine said.

"That's right, and I don't know how or why," Silver said. "I was angry with the guy, but what a shame for him to be killed. I can only hope they find whoever did this. I think it was the person working behind the register, to be honest with you. He was the only other person around at the time."

"Blaine proved that you don't need to be visible to cause trouble," Whitney said. "Maybe it was a person who used that device to make them into a ghost that committed this crime."

"If we could only figure out who really used that knife…" Gold said.

That night, the four of them nervously went to bed, with Silver having a very difficult time even trying to fall asleep. He was of course worrying about the trial, which he knew he shouldn't even have to go to. Yet here he was, accused of murder, when he was completely innocent. He could not figure out how to prove his own innocence, however, given that it seemed that the police wanted to convict him.

The next day, a Tuesday, the four trainers went to the trial. Jasmine and Silver walked in somberly, hand in hand. All the people at the trial sat down in their places, and the trial began with Silver taking the stand and giving his defense.

"I was at the Pokémon Mart that day," Silver said. "I purchased some products, but there were none of the one I wanted. The guy known as Super Nerd had the product I wanted, but I did not harm him. Instead, I purchased the products, then went to the Pokémon Center, accidentally leaving my backpack behind. When I came back, the bloody knife was in my backpack, obviously put there by the murderer. I do not know who that was, but I know it was not me."

Silver sat down, watching as police brought forward all sorts of information on what they found. Officer Jenny showed the knife that was found in Silver's backpack.

"This is what was used to kill Super Nerd," Officer Jenny said. "It was found in the backpack belonging to Silver. From what we have been told by the worker at the Pokémon Mart, the only two shoppers at the Pokémon Mart that day were Super Nerd and Silver."

The trial went on for several hours, before a final witness came to testify.

"Oh no!" Silver said, seeing it was Janine.

"That's the murderer, right there!" Janine said. "He's the one who committed this murder! I couldn't mistake it!"

"Excuse me, but how would you know?" Whitney said, standing up.

"I was standing outside the building watching through a window," Janine said. "I saw the horrible crime, then ran away for fear that this horrible killer would come after me."

"I knew there would be a witness who saw it," Officer Jenny said. "This should make it clear that Silver is the murderer."

Maxie smirked in the back of the room. He and the other Rockets were paying Janine to tell this lie, and as they had hoped, Officer Jenny ran with it. While Silver and his friends were stunned, the police officers all started blaming Silver for the crime.

Meanwhile, back in Saffron City, Sabrina started having painful feelings in her mind. Liza saw Sabrina lose focus while levitating, falling to the ground in pain.

"What's the matter, Sabrina?" Liza asked.

"I feel… something…" Sabrina said. "It's the presence of a ghost back in Olivine City."

"Go there now," Liza said.

Sabrina began to focus her mind on the ghostly presence. She ended up teleporting to the courtroom of Olivine City, where the jury was preparing to make a decision on Silver's fate.

"What is this girl doing here?" Officer Jenny asked.

_I know you're here,_ Sabrina said psychically. Her eyes turned bright blue as she focused her mind. No one in the room could figure out what she was doing.

"What's going on?" Silver said. "First that Janine lies, then this?"

"Calm down, Silver," Jasmine said softly.

Silver and Jasmine then looked in horror as they saw a person begin to materialize in front of Sabrina.

"I don't believe it," Silver said.

"Giovanni," Sabrina said, putting a psychic hold on the newly-materialized Team Rocket boss. "This is the man you're looking for. He's the murderer."

"How do you know?" Officer Jenny asked. "You could just be lying."

"Tell the truth," Sabrina said, "or else I'll turn you into a doll."

"It was me," Giovanni said. "I committed the murder."

Everyone in the room looked at each other in astonishment.

"This case is adjourned," the judge said.

"May I question him at your house?" Sabrina asked Jasmine.

"Go ahead," Jasmine said nervously.

The entire room was still in shock as Sabrina psychically lifted Giovanni out of the room with her. Officer Jenny and Janine were furious, while Silver's friends were relieved and thrilled. She took him to Jasmine's house, where she began asking Giovanni all sorts of questions. Giovanni had no choice but to tell the truth, knowing that Sabrina knew if he was lying.

Meanwhile, Silver left the courtroom with his friends, relieved and shocked at the same time. His father was still alive, which was shocking enough, but for his father to be the killer who framed him? He still couldn't believe it. At least one thing was for sure- the truth was out, at long last.


	19. Both Sides Of The Story

Chapter 19

Both Sides Of The Story

It was late Tuesday night. Giovanni had been taken off to the Olivine City jail, while Silver was exonerated of any charges. Maxie, Archie and Shelly had their identities discovered while trying to escape the courtroom, and they were taken to jail as well, although Tabitha was let go, as he had not been in jail in the first place. Meanwhile, Sabrina was still at Jasmine's house, as she was trying to explain to Silver and his friends what she had learned from questioning Giovanni.

"Silver, it was Giovanni who committed the murder and framed you, as he admitted," Sabrina said. "He had turned himself into a ghost by using a device known as the Anti-Silph Scope, which had been developed by Team Rocket scientists while they were in charge of Silph Company."

"So that's why the register worker never saw anyone else in the store," Silver said.

"That's right," Sabrina said. "Now, there are some other things he told me, or should I say, I told him."

"You told him?" Silver said.

"I read his mind, and then I asked him if what I found out was true," Sabrina said. "For example, he told me that he first used that Anti-Silph Scope to avoid the blast of that large explosion back in Saffron City."

"I guess that's why he set off that explosion," Silver said.

"Moreover, he would occasionally write things down and give them to Blaine and Lt. Surge, in order to keep Team Rocket's operations going," Sabrina said. "His goal was to revive Team Rocket slowly but surely, while invisible, until it was strong enough that he could reveal his identity again. He didn't realize how powerful psychic power is, however."

"Why did he do this to me?" Silver said. "That's what I can't figure out."

"His goal was to have you spend a long time in jail and become a hardened criminal, before he would break you out," Sabrina said. "By then, he figured you would be willing to join Team Rocket."

"How awful," Jasmine said.

"There is more," Sabrina said. "He sent Blaine to kill your mother, Silver, and he nearly succeeded."

"You mean my mother," Gold said.

Sabrina looked down and remained silent for a moment. The others looked at each other in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Silver said.

"I mean to tell you that you and Gold share the same mother, Silver," Sabrina said. "Your mother and Giovanni were in the process of a divorce while she was pregnant, after she found out he was a member of Team Rocket. She divorced from Giovanni very shortly after having you, and Giovanni paid the courts to give you to him only days after your birth, and he was the one who named you Silver. It was Giovanni who then sent you to a foster home at a young age, so you didn't remember him either."

Silver and Gold sat silently, not knowing what to think.

"When Gold's mother became remarried, Giovanni sent someone to kill his father shortly after she had Gold," Sabrina said. "He's been trying to kill off Gold's family ever since, but Gold's mother escaped to small New Bark Town, while Pryce joined Team Rocket, hoping to keep Giovanni's wrath away from Gold's family."

"I can't believe I'm related to him!" Silver said angrily.

"Oh, come on, you don't have the worst of it," Gold said. "I have to have you as a half-brother."

"Stop arguing!" Whitney said. "You find out you're related, and all you can do is begin to hate each other again?"

"Did my father show any sign of remorse?" Silver asked.

"No," Sabrina said. "I could not feel even a hint of remorse on him, no matter how hard I searched his feelings. He only admitted his crime thanks to my threat to turn him into a doll."

Silver looked upset. He wanted so badly for his father to turn his life around, but it just did not seem to be happening.

"I can't thank you enough," Silver said to Sabrina. "I would have been convicted for a crime I didn't commit if not for you."

"My original intent wasn't actually to free you, but to stop the ghost, as I felt its presence," Sabrina said. "So I deserve no credit."

"Oh, but you do," Jasmine said, grabbing Silver's hand. "I couldn't live with Silver in jail."

Sabrina paused. "He would have been given the death penalty," she said.

Whitney, Gold and Jasmine looked at Sabrina in shock. Silver began offering Sabrina money, which she refused.

"Please, I didn't even mean to help you," Sabrina said. "I really don't deserve it."

"Do you know why Lt. Surge and Officer Jenny fell in love?" Whitney asked.

"Giovanni told me Lt. Surge flirted with Officer Jenny before his and Blaine's trial, and as a result, she stuck up for them and got them out of jail time," Sabrina said. "Lt. Surge then started influencing her decisions, including hating Silver."

"It's too bad he still is getting away with this," Gold said.

"Lt. Surge has no fellow Team Rocket members left- the rest will be in jail," Sabrina said. "He may give up altogether on Team Rocket's plans and continue his relationship with Officer Jenny."

"Thank you so much, again," Jasmine said.

"I must go now," Sabrina said. She teleported back to her home of Saffron City. The other four Johto trainers looked at each other.

"I'm so happy for you, Silver!" Jasmine cried, hugging Silver. Tears ran down her face as she squeezed him tight.

"Everything's all right now," Silver said. "It's all going to be okay."

"We're all glad the truth came out," Whitney said to Silver. "Even Gold."

"Yeah, you're not a bad person to have as a half-brother," Gold said to Silver.

"Same with you," Silver said. "Now come on, let's go to Goldenrod City! I have my mother to meet!"


	20. Epilogue

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Flannery woke up the next morning at her home in Lavaridge Town to pounding on her front door. She opened it up to see Tabitha.

"Tabitha!" she said. "You're back!"

"I'm so sorry, Flannery," Tabitha said. "I temporarily joined Team Rocket to save you from them. I was afraid they were going to come after you if I didn't join them, which was the real reason I joined them. I'm through with them now, though."

"It's okay," Flannery said. "You meant well by it… just don't leave me again."

"I promise I won't," Tabitha said. "Those losers are back in jail again, so you won't see me go off with them again."

"Wallace and Winona may not have trusted you, but I do," Flannery said.

The two embraced, then Flannery invited Tabitha inside for some coffee. Tabitha felt relieved to have a girlfriend who forgave him for leaving her, even if it was in order to help her.

Over at Indigo Plateau, both Giselle and Joe talked to each other before Joe's class with Roxanne, talking about how things had gotten better for them.

"It's amazing, the other Elite don't hate me anymore… at least not that much," Giselle said. "Maybe they finally figured out that I am better than them."

"Roxanne's become a much better teacher," Joe said. "She even had some new student come into the class, and he and her get along very well."

"Good," Giselle said. "He ought to keep you away from her."

"I don't want Roxanne!" Joe said. "I have you!"

"I know, I'm only joking," Giselle laughed.

Sabrina was back in Saffron City talking with Liza and Will, who had taken off work for the day. They were at her house, which Jessie, James and Meowth had left after hearing that Blaine and Giovanni were in jail.

"I wish I could have stopped Giovanni before he committed another murder," Sabrina said.

"You can't put that burden on yourself," Will said.

"Since we are psychics, we have the power to know the evil intentions of people," Sabrina said. "We must use our power in order to stop awful things from happening, whenever possible."

"You're really ambitious," Liza said.

"All I want to do is use my power the right way," Sabrina said.

Meanwhile, Silver, Jasmine, Whitney and Gold were all in Goldenrod City, eating breakfast with Silver and Gold's mother. She seemed shocked at first that Silver was her child, but she was completely accepting of him.

"I've wondered where you've been all my life, but I never told Gold about you," she said. "I feared he would say something about having a half-brother to the wrong person and have our identities revealed."

"We're going to rebuild the gym in Mahogany Town, and also build our house into the gym," Gold said. "Then you can come live there with me."

"Okay," his mother said. "Where do you live, Silver?"

"In Olivine City, where all these problems occurred," Silver said.

"The police really gave my city a bad name," Jasmine said.

"Yes, but we're going to restore its good name," Silver said. "I'm going to help you out at the gym, and we'll make sure everyone is treated well who comes to your gym- although they won't be able to beat you."

"I'm just so happy you were proved innocent," Jasmine said.

She and Silver kissed.

"You two are so cute," his mother said.

Silver looked embarrassed, but then he thought about his life: he had a home, a girlfriend, and finally, a parent who cared about him. He was innocent. It was such a stark contrast from his past, when he had no home, no one who cared about him, and a criminal background.

"By the way, Jasmine," Silver said, "do you still want that Antidote?"

Jasmine simply laughed.


End file.
